Lower-extremity amputations in association with diabetes mellitus.

Aksoy and coworkers [39] found that a multidisciplinary diabetic foot care team can help decrease the rate of major amputations and improve tha patients' quality of life. Multidisciplinary care also includes proper patient education, which can help patients with diabetes mellitus control factors that can lead to complications, such as high blood glucose, high blood pressure, and increased lipid levels. The American Diabetes Association reports that such comprehensive foot care programs can reduce lower-extremity amputation rates among diabetic patients as much as 45% to 60% [1].