Tese de mestrado.pdf - Ubi Thesis

AbstractThe incidence and prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus has been increasing in the lastdecades and we can foreshadow the tendency for it to continue as such.This disease has a great impact in the health of the portuguese people, diminishingthe standard of living and causing relevant morbidity and mortality. It also implies highcosts, with socio-economic consequences, not only to the patients and their families, butalso for society as a whole. These effects of the disease are mainly due to thecomplication of the disease itself.The diabetic foot is the most complicated and most expensive complication ofDiabetes Mellitus, which consists of the main reason for patients to go into hospital. It isalso responsible for about half of the amputations of the inferior member for nontraumaticcauses.In this study is described the issue of the diabetic foot as well as itsphysiopathology, clinical presentation and diagnosis. It is also indicated the way thefoot of a diabetic patient should be analysed and with what frequency it should be done,according to the ulceration risk he/she presents. The correct approach to thiscomplication of Diabetes in a way to avoid its direct and indirect effects is the desiredpurpose.For the writing of this thesis a varied bibliography was used. For the selection ofthe article to be read a search was made in PubMed, in the section MeSH Databasethrough the words “diabetic foot”, “diabetic neuropathy” and “diabetic angiopathy”.Later were selected all articles whose titles or respective summaries showed to berelevant for the revision at stake. Reference material as guidance form Direcção Geralde Saúde (General Health Administration), articles from the site of Portuguese Societyof Diabetes and the book “O Pé Diabético e a Prevenção da Catástrofe” by Luis M.Alvim Serra were also consulted.As a way to complement the information obtained, it was searched at Google TMabout “pé diabético” and “inquérito nacional de saúde”. Having done this, a portuguesearticle about the first theme and some sites related to both themes were found.5