Diabetic neuropathic foot ulcer: Successful treatment by low-intensity laser therapy

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of low-intensity laser irradiation for the induction of wound healing of a diabetic neuropathic foot ulcer. Case: We report a case of a man with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, sensory neuropathy, macroangiopathy and microangiopathy who had been suffering fro m an ulcer of his first left toe accompanied by osteomyelitis for 6 weeks. Results: After a total of 16 sessions of low-intensity laser therapy using a 670-nm diode laser administered within a 4-week period the ulcer healed c ompletely. During a follow-up period of 9 months, there was no recurrence o f the ulcer even though the patient's metabolic condition remained unstable . Conclusions: Although laser therapy was not applied as a monotherapy, the present observation suggests that it might constitute a useful side-effect -free alternative treatment modality for the induction of wound healing of neuropathic ulcers in diabetic patients. Therefore large properly controlle d randomized studies seem justified.