Diabetes mellitus, one of the most prevalent chronic metabolic diseases, causes many complications. Among the complications, one of the most common chronic complications is diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).
This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy using vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) combined with photon therapy for the management of DFUs.
The study included a total of 69 patients with DFUs during the period from January 2014 to December 2015. All patients were diagnosed with DFUs with Wagner’s stage 2 or 3 and were divided into two groups – the VAC group in which patients received only VAC and the combined group in which patients received both VAC and photon therapy. Data on duration of the treatment, pre- and postoperative wound surface areas, dressing changing times, pain conditions assessed using visual analog scale scores, recurrence rate and amputation rate were collected.
Among all patients, 35 patients were divided into the VAC group and 34 patients into the combined group. Areas of foot ulcers for all patients ranged from 5 to 100 cm 2. The treatment duration, dressing changing times and the peak value of visual analog scale scores were all significantly lower in the combined group compared with the VAC group ( P < 0.05). However, the reduced area for wound surface showed no significant difference between the two groups. Both recurrence and amputation rates showed no significant difference between the two groups of patients.