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Diabetes‐related foot disease (DFD) — foot ulcers, infection and ischaemia — is a leading cause of hospitalisation, amputation, disability, and health care costs. In Australia each year, DFD affects around 50 000 people, causing 28 000 hospitalisations, 5000 amputations and $1.6 billion in costs. Further, 300 000 Australians are at risk of DFD, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have up to a 38‐fold risk of developing DFD and ensuing amputations.

Despite the large national DFD burden, Australian regions implementing guideline‐based care have demonstrated large reductions in their regional DFD burdens and costs. However, the most recent Australian guideline on DFD was published in 2011, many of its recommendations are now outdated, and the body of research on DFD has since expanded considerably. Therefore, the recent Australian DFD Strategy recommended an urgent update of Australian DFD guideline to inform contemporary evidence‐based practice and help reduce the large burden of DFD.

This MJA guideline summary shares more. 

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain key components of the guideline summary
2. List main findings
3. Outline steps to implement the new guidelines.

Details

Author: Peter A Lazzarini, Anita Raspovic, Jenny Prentice, Robert J Commons, Robert A Fitridge, James Charles, Jane Cheney, Nytasha Purcell and Stephen M Twigg

Article Type: Guideline Summary.