[5.07 Monofilament: the use of this monofilament in outpatient offices by nurses in primary health care units].

A diabetic foot is the most important cause of disability and loss of life quality among diabetics. To inspect a diabetic's feet and to explore his/her protective sensibility capability with a 5.07 monofilament are efficient methods to detect the risk of lesions. The authors' objective was to discover if our Primary Health Care Unit utilizes this instrument; therefore, we carried out a poll among all the nurses in our unit. 79% of these nurses are aware of the 5.07 monofilament; 62% have this monofilament available for their use; 55% stated they utilize it. The primary reasons to not use this monofilament are its unavailability and a lack of knowledge regarding it. Priority must be given to facilitate the availability of this instrument and to promote among nurses an understanding how to correctly utilize a 5.07 monofilament.