Diabetic Foot Ulcer Care: What to Expect During and After Surgical Debridement

Of the many different complications that stem from diabetes, diabetic foot ulcers are among the most common — and most worrisome. Around the world, about 18.6 million people develop infections in the form of diabetic ulcers each year, including 1.6 million here in the United States. And 20% of these infections lead to amputation.

When you have a slow-healing wound in your foot, ankle, or leg, the first order of business is to contain the infection, and a great tool in this effort is surgical debridement.

At Foot Ankle Leg Wound Care Orange County, Dr. Thomas Rambacher and our team routinely perform debridements as part of our advanced wound care services. Our goal when it comes to diabetic foot care is to avoid amputation, and surgical debridement is a front-line tool that can help us accomplish this goal.

Why we perform a debridement

If, like 38.4 million other Americans, you have diabetes, any small wound in your lower limbs can become a problematic diabetic ulcer thanks to compromised circulation. Without good blood flow, your body can’t send in enough healing resources in a timely manner to fight off opportunistic bacteria that invade any opening in your skin.

Once bacteria take hold and create an infection, that infection can spread, and left unchecked the bacteria can multiply and slowly eat away at healthy tissues. As a result, tissues can die off, which is an irreversible condition called necrosis.

Playing this out even further, the infection can invade your bones and threaten the entire limb if gangrene sets in.

To stop this cascade of events, we can perform a surgical debridement, a procedure in which we remove dead and infected tissues surrounding the diabetic ulcer.

What we do during your debridement

In many cases, we can perform a debridement right here in our offices on an outpatient basis. If, however, the infection is extensive, we might have to perform a surgical debridement in a hospital setting.

However extensive your debridement, our goal is to clear a path forward that will preserve as much tissue as possible by removing compromised tissues to stop the spread of infection.

During a typical surgical debridement, Dr. Rambacher removes as much affected tissue as possible, which includes both necrotic (dead) tissue, as well as infected tissues that are harboring harmful bacteria.

Once Dr. Rambacher removes compromised tissues, he takes the opportunity to evaluate the extent of the infection and then he thoroughly cleans and disinfects the ulcer.

Rest assured, we supply you with local or general anesthetics so you should remain perfectly comfortable while Dr. Rambacher performs the debridement.

After your diabetic foot ulcer debridement

After Dr. Rambacher performs a surgical debridement, he sets the ulcer on a healthier path by ensuring that the wound is properly protected. In some cases, he might place a skin graft over the wound or he might use a flap reconstruction, which is a larger graft with a blood supply.

However Dr. Rambacher closes your wound, your job is to keep the pressure off the wound and follow the dressing instructions to the letter, which will likely include prescription wound care products.

A surgical debridement essentially hits the reset button on an infected diabetic ulcer and you need to do everything you can to prevent reinfection. Of course, we’re with you every step of the way and we’ll guide you as you go, intervening whenever necessary.

If you have more questions about what to expect during and after a surgical debridement, we’re just a phone call or click away. To get started, you can contact our office in Mission Viejo, California, at 949-832-6018 or request an appointment online today.