Peer Reviewed
Foot care in diabetes

The ABCS of foot care in diabetes: assessing the risk factors

Pat Phillips, Angela Evans
Abstract
Risk factors for diabetes-related foot problems can be summarised as the ABCS of foot care: Anaesthesia (peripheral neuropathy), Blood supply (peripheral vascular disease), foot Care and foot Structure. Here is an introduction to the assessment of these risk factors.
Key Points

    GPs are familiar with the ABCss of diabetes care – A1c (glycosylated haemoglobin; A), blood pressure (B), cholesterol (C), smoking (s) and salicylates (s) – which refer to the risk factors for diabetes complications in general. This article introduces the ABCS of foot care in people with diabetes – which refer to the risk factors for diabetes-related foot problems. The ABCS are:

    • A – anaesthesia (i.e. peripheral neuropathy)
    • B – blood supply (i.e. peripheral vascular disease)
    • C – care (i.e. routine preventive foot care)
    • S – structure (i.e. abnormal foot structure).
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