Vitorino M. Santos
Zilcem C. Arruda Junıor
Daniela G. Gebrım
Fabio H. O. Sılva
Daniele A. Reckzıegel
Abstract
A 63-year-old man was hospitalized because of severe lesions in
his right foot (Figure 1A). These evolved with minor pain and had
first been observed approximately ten days before admission. The
changes were initially limited to the plantar surface of the second
toe, but the patient did not remember any recent trauma, because
of a chronic loss of local sensibility. Remarkable antecedents were
metabolic syndrome, arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes,
which were controlled by another service by diet in addition to
metformin, gliclazide, and losartan. Two years previously, he had
undergone a surgical procedure involving the distal area of the
first right toe. His mother 83-years of age had had an amputation
of part of the left extremity caused by similar conditions.
Notwithstanding, he did not get enough knowledge about the selfmanagement
in this setting. He denied tobacco smoking, but
confirmed social alcohol consumption. His evaluation on
admission showed body mass index (BMI) 28.8 kg/m2, waist
circumference 110 cm, and arterial pulses in the lower limbs of
decreased amplitude. The rest of the physical examination was
unremarkable. Routine blood tests showed moderate anemia, mild
neutrophil leukocytosis, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate
(ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level, hyperglycemia,
hypoalbuminemia, and high urea and creatinine levels. Cultures
from samples of the foot wounds revealed S. aureus sensitive to
clindamycin and ciprofloxacin, and these drugs were administered.
The imaging studies of the affected foot disclosed bone and
arterial changes (Figures 1B and 2). The patient underwent a
surgical procedure on the day 4 of admission, and the blood
control tests showed an improvement of hematological indices and
normalization of renal function. After hospital discharge, he is
under specialized surveillance at the orthopedic rehabilitation
service.