Angiology and Vascular Surgery is a complex speciality, dedicated to the diagnosis and medical and surgical treatment of vessel diseases: arteries, veins and lymphatics. Due to the diversity of our specialty, in 1990 we formed Angiogrup, a multidisciplinary care team dedicated to the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to vascular diseases. We cover the diagnosis of the entire range of vascular pathologies, directed from the non-invasive vascular diagnosis laboratory, and having access to all the most advanced therapeutic techniques for all types of vascular pathology.
“Endovascular treatment has decreased mortality, increased the ability to save limbs and solve vascular problems in diabetic patients”
Diabetes and vascular diseases
Diabetic patients have a high incidence of vascular problems. Diabetes accelerates the aging of the arteries, or arteriosclerosis, in a very important way, promoting the development of atherosclerotic plaques and the classification of the arterial wall, affecting arteries of different calibers (diabetic micro and macroangiopathy). It is called diabetic arteriopathy. All this produces an occlusion of the arteries, causing a deficit of blood supply in the different areas, especially the lower extremities, and can lead to gangrene or necrosis of the foot.
Diabetes can also cause damage to the peripheral nerves (diabetic neuropathy) or joints (Charcot’s arthropathy), which, associated with the blood deficit typical of this disease (diabetic artery disease), can cause lesions in the foot of patients with diabetes. . When a diabetic patient suffers foot injuries, it is usually due to a sum of these factors (arteriopathy, neuropathy and arthropathy) in different degrees, known as diabetic foot.
Prevention and vascular treatment of diabetic foot
The best way to diabetic foot prevention is the correct control of diabetes and vascular risk factors (diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, dyslipidemia, etc.), strict podiatric control and follow-up by medical specialists, thus preventing their appearance or progression. However, in some cases, such as diabetic artery disease, specific treatment may be required. This is precisely one of the fields where our specialty has evolved the most, adopting effective, less invasive techniques and expanding the indications to a greater number of patients. Therefore, to classic revascularization surgery, today we can add endovascular treatment, which has completely changed our specialty in recent years, reducing mortality and increasing our ability to save limbs and solve vascular problems in diabetic patients. .
And all this added to the important advancing vascular nursing. Local cures with different dressings and especially with bio-surgery and negative pressure treatments have managed to considerably shorten the recovery time of skin lesions and vascular ulcers in general.
All of this approach requires coordinated work of a multidisciplinary team, including specialists in Vascular Surgery, Endocrinology, Vascular Nursing, Podiatry, Radiology, Traumatology and Internal Medicine, among others. At Angiogrup we offer a broad and multidisciplinary vision of the pathology associated with diabetic foot and a range of diagnostic and therapeutic options adjusted to each patient.