"Charcot''s feet", a disease that attacks the feet of 400 thousand Saudis !! Dr. Khaled Idris, Charcot''s foot, or the disease called diabetic foot fractures, is a disease that affects nearly 400,000 Saudis, for which there is no known treatment and increases the likelihood of leg amputation. On this disease and its stage, Nabed is pleased to host Dr. Khaled bin Muhammad Abdul Qadir Idris, a consultant medicine and foot and ankle surgery.
The story begins with a surprise and usually without any bruise or accident, it may hurt a little, so the patient Abu Muhammad says: “A few weeks ago I noticed that my right foot began to change shape with a little swelling, and gradually it became red and hot, and I had no other foot problems.” When we asked Abu Muhammad about his drunkenness, he says: “I have been diagnosed with diabetes for years and I weigh it only by feeling. All I do is increase my insulin dose before any occasion I go to.” This is throwing oneself to peril by a sample.
Charcot introduced the name after the French physician Jean-Martin Charcot (or Charcot in French), who was the first to explain the disease in a paper in 1868 AD. Most international studies indicate that the percentage of diabetic patients who suffer diabetic foot fractures ranges between 1-5%, and the statistics that I collect in the Kingdom for a period of ten years indicate that the incidence ranges between 10-15%, and this is an unprecedented large number globally.
This condition generally affects those who have peripheral nerve damage resulting from many diseases such as leprosy and alcoholism, on top of which is diabetes, and of course for those whose rates are always high, and despite our knowledge of the stages of this disease, there are many theories about its actual causes And how to control or stop it, until today there is no treatment for it except for splinting the foot and leg with some osteoporosis medications and vitamin D with calcium in an attempt to reduce the severity of fractures and reduce the period of disease, and surgical intervention has a role in repairing fractures, but the success rate does not increase About fifty percent, and the surgical solution is not for everyone who suffers from the disease, as it should be by a surgeon who is skilled in the foot and ankle.
Charcot came in three stages
The first: the stage of demolition and crushing is called
Where fractures and dislocations begin, often without injury, and are accompanied by swelling, redness and heat, and the most important thing that is noticed is the change in the shape of the foot and the start of the deformity, as this happens in only one foot in most cases. Here, the circumstances and failure to diagnose occur due to the newness of the disease in the Arab world and the lack of experience with it. If the patient goes to the emergency and does not reveal a skilled consultant, the case may be diagnosed as a tissue infection or a collection of pus or worse, bone decay and a cleaning operation is conducted to find The surgeon said that all the tissues inside are clean, so there is no pus, infection, or decay. Here, experience, blood tests and disease history govern. The correct behavior when diagnosing this disease is to urge the patient to control and weigh the blood sugar level and to rest completely with foot splinting or the use of ready-made splints, which are less effective. This phase lasts from two to six months, depending on the severity of the case and the patient’s commitment to prevention.
Diabetic foot
The second stage: of Charcot''s disease is the stage of fusion or fusion
As all the symptoms gradually begin to improve, the redness and swelling subside, and the temperature of the affected foot returns to become like its natural sister, but the deformation remains, and this will not improve for the rest of the human life, and during this stage, which also lasts from two to six months, the body exceeds and sees the destruction and begins In the repair and reparation of the bones, but they will not return to what they were, especially if we do not splint the foot during the demolition and fracturing phase, then the bones become scattered and far from the ends, so the body cannot repair them. It is very rare to injure other joints in the body, and the most common area affected in most cases are the metatarsal joints where the curvature area falls and the bones fall and produce protrusions from the sides and on the bottom or soles of the foot causing high pressure areas that may ulcerate and from here begins the story of the end because of the difficulty of treatment and ease Bone decay, and leg amputation ends in extreme cases. Therefore, the patient must, at this stage, adhere to regulating the sugar level, losing weight, and never walking barefoot while wearing medical shoes or splints as directed by the doctor.
The third stage: called the restoration phase
And it is a phase of stillness and calmness that may last for the rest of the person’s life, or it ends suddenly, and the ball returns again to begin the demolition and cracking again with the same foot or the second foot. Here the human body tries to fill in the gaps between the bones and remove some protrusions, and it remains in that for several years. Upon reaching this stage safely, and in the event that many fractures do not occur, it is possible for a person to get rid of splints, but must adhere to medical shoes that are specially tailored to fit the new shape of the foot and protect the bony protrusions from friction and pressure to protect them from ulcers, God willing, and you are in good health and wellness.
