Diabetic foot ulceration is one of the most common and severe complications of diabetes. The two significant causes of ulcers in people with diabetes are nerve problems and occlusion of blood vessels.

An ulcer precedes about 85% of the amputation in people with diabetes. Ulcer prevention and management is thus the best way of preventing amputation.

This article focuses on arterial occlusion as the cause for a diabetic foot ulcer and how angioplasty can help in such cases.

Let’s dive in!

Vascular Causes of Diabetic Foot

High blood sugar in diabetes may damage blood vessels by causing their inflammation or hardening them. All this causes the affected blood vessel to narrow, resulting in reduced blood circulation and oxygen supply to the area supplied by the blood vessels.

The imbalance between the oxygen supply to the tissue and its demand results in ulcers. When poor blood supply affects the blood vessels of hands and feet, the condition is known as a peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

PAD is two to eight times more common in diabetic patients than in the general population. As diabetes is often associated with nerve damage, the pain associated with PAD is usually absent.

To restore oxygen supply and healing of tissues, the inflow of blood should be improved.

How Angioplasty Helps

It is a minimally invasive surgery to improve blood circulation, thus promoting wound healing. The doctor will initiate angioplasty by taking a small incision in your hip or groin. Through the incision, they will introduce a thin, flexible tube known as the catheter.

Usually, your doctor will inject a dye and use a special X-Ray (fluoroscopy) as a guide to the placement of the catheter and allowing it to reach the blocked artery.

Now the doctor will introduce a small wire through the catheter. A second tube attached to a balloon follows the guidewire.  Once the balloon reaches the area of blockage, it will be inflated. This opens up the blockage, restoring blood flow.

A stent is introduced at the same time as a balloon and expands with the balloon. Your doctor will secure the stent in the blocked artery. Once the stent is placed, the doctor will remove the catheter.

Once everything is in place, the doctor will close the incision, and you may be allowed to go home the same day or the next day.

The minimally invasive nature of the surgery lowers the risk of infection and hastens healing so that you can resume your regular activities at the earliest. Besides, the risk of infection is also significantly reduced.

Angioplasty can prevent amputation in 78% to 85% of cases with a diabetic foot ulcer.