Type 1 or type 2 diabetics often have secondary diseases such as wound healing disorders. Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) in particular causes major problems for some of them, because it is a consequence of foot wounds that become chronic if they are not treated properly and quickly. The small acute wound then becomes a chronic one.
Bacteria invade the smallest wounds and cause inflammation to develop. Due to pre-existing nerve damage as a result of diabetes mellitus, affected persons often do not notice that their feet have wounds that do not want to heal. In these patients, pain conduction is disturbed.
Regular foot care for these people should always be carried out by experienced experts in the field of medical foot care. Diabetics should pay attention to this, because very quickly an open small wound can develop into a foot ulcer (foot ulcer).
Two German clinics have initiated a study because of existing wound healing problems of the affected persons, which clarifies that cold plasma therapies show effectiveness. However, public health insurers do not (yet) cover this treatment, although eight treatments at about 10 euros each, depending on the size of the wound area, have shown accelerated wound healing.
43 patients participated in the study, with a total of 62 foot wounds resulting from diabetes mellitus. The study participants had an average age of 68.5 years and were divided into two groups. One group (control group) received placebo treatment (no active ingredient) in addition to standard therapy consisting of disinfection, wound cleansing, moist wound dressings, and antibiotics if necessary. The other group was additionally treated with cold plasma, which was applied to the wound as a gas in the form of an area or a jet. This was done using a special pen.
The cold plasma therapy group obviously benefited from the treatment without having any side effects. In this group, the remaining wound area, at only about 30.5 percent of the area of the original wound, was almost twice as small as in the control group (55 percent wound surface residue).
Accordingly, wound experts see cold plasma application as an important option for the treatment of chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, so that serious complications can be avoided.
Source: Diabetes-News