Total Contact Soft Cast in Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Conditions

Total Contact Soft Cast — DEVICE
The total contact soft cast will consist of wound dressing of choice to the ulcer and a plantar foot accommodative offloading felt pad for all foot ulcers, with 4x4 gauze pads added to the arch to create a rocker bottom for metarsophalangeal joint (MPJj) and plantar heel ulcers. The next layers will be: * Unna boot from MPJs to just below the knee, * Sterile Kerlix from MPJs to just below the knee * Sterile 4 inch Kling wrap from the MPJs to just below the knee, * Four inch coban from MPJs to just below the knee, and * Ace wraps from MPJs to just below the knee
Cam Boot — DEVICE
Removable Diabetic cam boot will be used in patients willing and capable of using it. If patient does not want to use Diabetic cam boot then surgical shoe or regular shoe would be options.

To determine the effectiveness, compliance, patient tolerance, ease of use and safety of total contact soft cast in diabetic foot ulcers.

Experimental: Soft Cast with a Removable Cam Boot
Patients with a foot, ankle, or lower leg ulcer (which we expect to be mostly diabetic foot ulcers) will be provided with a total contact soft cast with removable cam boot.
Experimental: Soft Cast without a Removable Cam Boot
Patients with a foot, ankle, or lower leg ulcer (which we expect to be mostly diabetic foot ulcers) will be provided with a total contact soft cast.
No Intervention: Conventional
Patients with a foot, ankle, or lower leg ulcer (which we expect to be mostly diabetic foot ulcers) will use conventional offloading including total contact casting, removable cast boots (cam boots), CROW boots, bracing, AFO's, offloading shoes, insoles, padding, shoe modifications, crutches, wheelchairs, rollabout, and surgical correction.

Complete Healing Rates [ Time Frame: 16 weeks ]

Facility	City	State	ZIP	Site coordinators
University of Minnesota	Minneapolis	Minnesota	55454	Joseph Schuster, DPM [email protected] 612-273-9400

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