Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the basic functioning and delivery of hospital care. The strict lockdown policies across the globe, the lack of hospital follow-up, scare of COVID-19 and its complications along with relative unexplored field of telemedicine lead to patients of diabetic foot ulcer to present with more severe conditions and thereby a poorer prognosis Aim: To evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with Diabetic foot Ulcer. Methods and Materials: A retrospective study was conducted at Nair hospital between April 2020 and October 2020. These patients admitted between April 2020 and October 2020 were enrolled as the Study group. The sample size was 58 patients. The patients admitted between April 2019 and September 2019 were enrolled as the control group. The sample size was 123 patients. The parameters assessed included demographics, medical history, severity of current infection consisting of Wagner’s grading and mean sugar levels, medical or surgical management and mortality. Data was collected and stored on Microsoft Excel. Continuous variables were compared with chi-square test with 95% Confidence limit. Results: The study group consisted of patients presenting with a higher Wagner’s grade as compared to the control group. The study group also had a more significant (p-value=0.025) number of amputations with respect to the control group. There was no statistical significance between the two groups with regards to mean sugar level, vasculopathy, neuropathy and mortality. Conclusions: The study demonstrated more severe infections and higher rate of amputation during the pandemic, reconfirming the importance of preventive care.

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