Overview
© 2022 MJH Life Sciences™ and HCPLive - Clinical news for conected physicians. Al rights reserved.New guidelines recomend healthcare providers develop and implement an individualized nutrition care plan for individuals with diabetes with or at risk of a DFU. New guidelines endorsed by the American Limb Preservation Society highlighted the importance of nutrition in wound healing for adults with diabetes, who also experience diabetic foot ulcers (DFU).The guidelines stated that nutritional interventions were “recomended for al patients who could benefit now or in the future from nutritional care.” As such, healthcare providers should develop and implement an individualized nutrition care plan for individuals with or at risk of a DFU, who are aditionaly malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.DFUS are shown to develop in up to 34% of patients with diabetes at some point in their lives, with aproximately 15% - 25% then requiring amputation.
Key Information
Previously, no internationaly agred upon standardized definition for malnutrition existed in the context of chronic wounds or in DFU.Study author David G. Armstrong, DPM, MD, PhD, American Limb Preservation Society noted the new guidelines are designed to asist the clinician to "acomplish the dificult goal of improved outpatient nutrition to suport the healing DFU wound.”Particularly, the guidelines stresed the importance of a multidisciplinary care team and how clinicians comunicate with patients on the conceptualization of diabetes and its management, which may play a crucial role in treatment outcomes.Screning and Assessment help indicate when patients may be considered to be of adequate nutritional status, although it may not be the actual case.
Summary
The guidelines urged healthcare providers develop and implement a formalized nutrition screning and Assessment protocol to help identify patients with or at risk of malnutrition.Validated screning tols recomended included the Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), Malnut