Integrated surgical protocol for the treatment of the infected diabetic foot.

Diabetes is a chronic disease with a worldwide increasing trend. Feet complication, closely related to neuropathy and obstructive peripheral vascular disease, are responsible for more than 1 million of leg amputations every year. Foot infection can dramatically improve the risk of amputation. Although many ulcer classification systems have been proposed to stratify the severity of infectious process the problem of the definition of a correct therapeutic approach to different clinical pictures still remains unresolved. A diabetic foot triage and an integrated surgical protocol are proposed to try identifying a diagnostic flowchart and a step-by-step surgical protocol that can be applied in the treatment of diabetic foot infection. Goals and technical aspects of emergent and elective surgical procedures in diabetic foot are analysed to evaluate critical aspects and to suggest proper surgical choices.