Moscow doctors have learned to treat the most serious complication of diabetes.

A sensation has occurred in the medical world that could save the lives of thousands of diabetics. Doctors at the capital's multidisciplinary clinic, the Center for Endosurgery and Lithotripsy (CELT), have learned to perform operations that allow you to save a leg in cases of the so-called diabetic foot syndrome (a late complication of diabetes). Until recently, such patients were at risk of amputation. A 76-year-old patient from Volokolamsk has been suffering from diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) for 11 years. All this time, she was prescribed some ointments, had dressings... The other day, doctors at the Vishnevsky Institute delivered their verdict: only amputation. But her family accidentally found out about the CELT clinic. And now the woman is awaiting surgery there. CELT's experience is encouraging - doctors have already literally put about 150 patients who have undergone surgery back on their feet. Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is one of the most terrible complications of diabetes. It is accompanied by ulcerative, purulent-necrotic processes, and gangrene — the foot literally begins to rot. A person loses self-care skills, and personality degradation begins from constant pain — the suicide rate is very high among such patients. — The problem of pain relief for cancer patients has been solved on a national scale, but the problem of pain relief for patients with diabetic foot has not been solved at all. And their pain is much more severe than that caused by cancer. After all, the leg is dying, — says Professor Zaza Kavteladze, Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department at CELT. — I saw a woman who tried to commit suicide 4 times! Even looking at her own leg is a shock for such patients. As a rule, the fate of patients suffering from DFS is unenviable. Doctors generally offer them only hygienic treatment, but sooner or later the question of amputation still arises. Moreover, first they can cut off a finger, then a foot, then a shin, then a thigh. Doctors call this a "gradual increase in the level of amputation." Moreover, the percentage of postoperative mortality is very high - over 50%. Patients, and these are most often elderly people with a whole bunch of diseases, die not so much from the surgical intervention itself, but from the complications that develop later. For example, after amputation of a foot due to SDS, the nationally beloved actor Mikhail Gluzsky died ... However, now the capital's doctors have begun to use endovascular surgery - angioplasty of the artery of the legs - to treat patients with SDS. This is a minimally invasive intervention that does not require general anesthesia or even an incision (a stent is placed through an artery puncture). But it does require modern technologies, which have only appeared recently. — It turned out that the stents we used for coronary artery angioplasty are also suitable for such operations. The pain gradually goes away, and the leg turns pink before your eyes! As a result, the person not only continues to live, but also does not become disabled, — says Alexander Bronstein, Director of the CELT Clinic. — Diabetes mellitus is a global problem for our country. No less a problem than coronary heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. There are hundreds of thousands of patients whom we can help. Because we have the only effective and safe treatment method to date. CELT experience shows that after such operations, most patients quickly recover. However, doctors do not want to give patients unrealistic hopes — of course, angioplasty will not be able to get rid of diabetes mellitus. But it may save their lives. "You can live without legs, but with legs, it's better!" say doctors. They hope that endovascular interventions will soon become the only treatment for SDS. Source: mk.ru