COST-EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS - A REVIEW

Foot lesions are common and serious complications in patients with dia betes mellitus, In recent years, several authors have, in addition to the medical aspects, focused on the high costs for treatment of this c omplication, However, few studies have performed a complete health-eco nomic comparison and analysis of different treatments, This is probabl y related to the complexity of the problem and ethical difficulties in performing randomised clinical trials on these patients. Despite the lack of comparative health-economic studies, most authors conclude tha t amputations should be avoided if there is any possibility of saving the limb, This is not only because of the economic consequences - high costs for repeated hospitalisations. rehabilitation, horne care and s ocial-service support associated with amputations, but also the qualit y-of-life aspects, Alternative treatment options might seem costly in the short term, but most cost-effectiveness analyses that also conside r the long term perspective have concluded that treatment alternatives in which the limb is saved are more cost effective,Methodological asp ects, such as the perspective of a study, may cause difficulties in co mparing results between countries and settings. By using the societal perspective in economic studies, incentives to push costs from one sec tor to another might be avoided.