[Antibiotic treatment in patients amputated for ischemic diabetic foot]

Thirty diabetic patients submitted to a major amputation were tested by humo-celullar assays (retarded hypersensibility assays). Reactive patients were subdivided into two groups: one group was treated postoperatively with antibiotics, and the other group was not treated. Both groups were homogeneous in age, hemoglobin concentrations, hematocrit, total proteins, glucemy and history of sepsis or leukocytosis. Five patients treated with antibiotics (33.3%) presented sepsis, one patient was reamputated and one patient died. Between the not treated patients, only three presented sepsis (20%) without any other complications. Authors conclude that the development of sepsis in reactive, diabetic, amputated patients is independent of antibiotic treatment.

[Microsurgical approach to the foot arteries in diabetic patients with vascular complications]

This study was made in order to assess the percentage of patients who underwent a by-pass (by saphenous vein) "in situ" on the foot arteries, as an alternative to the amputation for cases of severe ischaemia on the foot. The medium and short-term survival associated to the revascularized limb was also analyzed. Sixteen patients underwent this surgical procedure, 8 of them (50%) lost their limb within the following seven days to the revascularization; one patient lost their limb at the first year and 43.7% of patients maintain the viability of their limbs 3 years latter. This surgical procedure was made by microsurgery using a Carl Zeica amplification optic lens 2,3 X and a OFMI microscope with an amplification lens 40 X.