Abstract Diabetic foot ulcers are a serious complication of diabetes mellitus. Healing of ischemic or neuroischemic foot ulcers is most challenging as conventional therapies often fail to achieve adequate vascularity. Heel ulcers can be very severe and strenuous to treat and can eventually lead to amputation of the limb due to poor vascularity. Optimizing therapies to improve vascularity should, therefore, be a major goal in treating such cases. Here, we report two cases of chronic nonhealing ischemic ulcers of the heel. Patients approached us after conventional medical treatments failed to achieve healing. We treated them with a cocktail (Diabcare protocol) that we formulated using existing medications along with appropriate wound care and antibiotics. Diabcare protocol comprises rosuvastatin, aspirin, rivaroxaban, cilostazol, tadalafil, and zinc sulfate. Serial measurements of ulcers revealed progressive healing and wound contraction. Vascularity improved significantly, and fresh granulation appeared within days to weeks of initiation of therapy. Ulcers healed completely, with spontaneous epithelialization in the first case and after a split skin graft (SSG) in the second case, within a mean period of 3 months.
Read full abstract