University Hospital Aintree Research Articles

‘Diabetic holiday stump syndrome’?!

Sir, It was nice to see two original articles and a leading article in Practical Diabetes International (March 2001) on the subject of ‘Diabetic holiday foot syndrome’.1-3 One of these reports was from our own unit, 1 and we thought readers might be interested in the most recent events in the life of case 1. Having had a below-knee amputation following three separate episodes of ‘holiday ulceration’ (Spain, Morocco, and finally Blackpool!), he made a good recovery and mobilised successfully with a prosthesis. Feeling so well, he recently went on holiday again to Spain, and took with him a ‘swimming prosthesis’. This however caused friction and soft tissue trauma to his stump, resulting in severe cellulitis, but no ulceration. He required antibiotics and increased doses of insulin for several days, following which he recovered and returned to the use of his original prosthesis. We suggest that this is a further twist in the tale of lower-limb holiday risks for diabetic patients, and we suggest the name ‘diabetic holiday stump syndrome’! Geoffrey Gill Consultant Physician and Reader in Medicine*, Karen Noblett Diabetes Specialist Nurse*, * Walton Diabetes Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool L9 1AE, UK.

Trends in the smoking habits of young adults with diabetes

OBJECTIVESTo examine changes in the prevalence of smoking in young adult diabetic patients between 1990 and 1999.SETTINGWalton Diabetes Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK.DESIGNDirect questioning as well as the urinary...

COCAINE ANAESTHESIA DURING TOPICAL ANAESTHESIA FOR FUNCTIONAL ENDOSCOPIC SINUS SURGERY

Departments of Otorhinolaringology and Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital Aintree, Lower Lane, Liverpool, UK.