Short-term multimodal phototherapy approach in a diabetic ulcer patient

Chandrasekaran B, Chettri R, Agrawal N, Sathyamoorthy C
Correspondence: Mr Baskaran Chandrasekaran, bass_99psg@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT
Foot ulcers increase morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Due to poor healing factors, surgical wound healing is questionable in diabetic patients. We report a patient with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, sensory neuropathy and microangiopathy, who had an infected stump of the right three middle digits and subsequent transmetatarsal amputation. The infected postoperative ulcer was treated with complex phototherapy, including laser and ultraviolet C (UVC) radiations. A total of 23 sessions of low-intensity laser therapy and UVC irradiation were administered over a five-week period. The infected surgical wound healed completely. During the three-month follow-up period, there was no recurrence of the ulcer, although the patient’s metabolic profile remained unstable. Multimodal therapy combining UVC and laser may constitute a useful and side-effect-free alternative treatment modality for the induction of wound healing post metatarsal amputation in patients with unhealed diabetic ulcers.

Keywords: amputation, diabetic ulcer, healing, laser, phototherapy
Singapore Med J 2012; 53(6): e122–e124