The International Working Group on Diabetic Foot will release a set of guidelines next year to be followed world over. Written every four years, they were last published in 2019.
Vijay Viswanathan, head and chief diabetologist of M.V. Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, is among the authors who drafted the guidelines. In 2015, he was called upon to draft the infection guidelines. Four years later, he was included in the offloading group, recommending the type of footwear to be used for persons with diabetic foot ulcers.
For 2023, he has been included in two working groups — wound healing and offloading. The evidence-based guidelines will be released on May 13, in The Hague, Dr. Vijay said. The guidelines had been translated in various languages, including Spanish, Portuguese and Vietnamese.
“These guidelines help to standardise treatment protocol for diabetic foot all over the world. Unfortunately, people are not aware of these guidelines and even if they know they don’t follow though these guidelines are exhaustive and it is really looking into the evidence,” he said.
This would help in prescribing appropriate antibiotics and physicians would benefit from the detailed classification of wounds in the feet. “If one follows the guidelines methodically, then the treatment will become standardised. This time, the IWGDF has involved patients’ reviews and the guidelines will be sent to outside experts to see their practicability,” Dr. Vijay said.
Two years ago, Dr. Vijay said he made six info cards based on the guidelines that were translated into Hindi and Tamil.
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