Diabetic Limb Salvage in Orange County

Prevention of diabetic foot disease through glycemic control, periodic foot examinations, callus debridement, shoe-gear recommendations, deformity prevention and accommodation, and patient education is the best line of defense against foot amputation in Orange County. However, surgical intervention frequently becomes necessary to eradicate infection, remove necrotic tissue, close chronic wounds, eliminate structural causes of tissue breakdown, and reconstruct deformities. Our Orange County Podiatrist / Foot and Ankle Surgeon can help with Diabetic Limb Salvage in Orange County at our Irvine, CA, Huntington Beach, CA, Newport Beach, CA, or Orange, CA offices.

 

Our Orange County Foot and Ankle Surgeon is experienced in diabetic limb salvage and surgery. The foot and ankle surgeon is one of the foremost players in the limb salvage effort, assuming the difficult task of preserving extremities through various surgical techniques and preventing and managing complications postoperatively. Providing each patient in Orange County with a functional, biomechanically sound, and shoeable foot that is free of infection, while minimizing the risk of tissue breakdown and recurrent infection, is integral to a successfully salvaged limb.

 

Efficiently achieving these objectives decreases the threat of a major lower extremity amputation, prolongs survival, promotes independence, and maintains the patient's quality of life, as will be explained in detail below. The patient must understand the continued risk of tissue breakdown, healing complications, and recurrent infections that could require additional hospitalizations, surgical procedures, and perhaps a major amputation.

 

Advanced wound closure techniques, deformity reconstruction, or subsequent pedal amputations may be necessary to achieve a successful outcome in diabetic limb salvage in Orange County. Four pertinent issues must be addressed with the limb-salvage candidate prior to surgical intervention:

​

1. Definition of a realistic expectation, which corresponds to the average functional outcome in medically similar patients with the same amputation level. 

2. Comparison of the functional outcomes of a salvaged limb versus an amputation and fitting of a prosthesis.

3. Costs, including resource consumption, time off from work, and the patient’s ability to afford multiple surgeries.

4. Risks, particularly risks of recurrent infection and the possible need for further surgery when limb salvage is chosen.

 

Patients requiring surgical intervention for diabetic limb problems in Orange County will demonstrate particular findings upon clinical examination, including a wounds failing to heel with local wound care, infected ulcer, gangrene, deep space abscess, deformity, or suspected osteomyelitis. Each diagnosis warrants a different route of limb salvage, which may include:

​

• Incision and drainage of an abscess.

• Debridement of infected and necrotic soft tissue and bone.

• Resection of prominent osseous structures causing skin breakdown.

• Amputation of an ischemic or infected aspect of the foot.

• Wound reconstruction utilizing skin grafts or wound vac. therapy.

• Deformity reconstruction.

 

Although each relates to a particular indication, the goal remains the same:

​

• Maximizing patient function.

• Providing a stable infection-free foot.

• Minimizing the risk of tissue breakdown.

• Avoiding healing complications.

• Avoidance of reinfection and the need for a proximal amputation.

 

Diabetic limb salvage surgery in Orange County employs various surgical techniques designed to prevent major lower extremity amputation. Our Orange County Foot and Ankle Surgeon / Orange County Podiatrist and each patient must be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to achieve a satisfactory result. 

​

Please contact our office in Irvine, Orange, Newport Beach, or Huntington Beach in Orange County, CA to make an appointment with our foot and ankle surgeon / podiatrist (Dr. Coyer), who will provide comprehensive care for all of your needs with Diabetic Limb Salvage in Orange County.