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Wound fluid lactate concentration: a helpful marker for diagnosing soft‐tissue infection in diabetic foot ulcers? Preliminary findings
Author(s) -
Löffler M.,
Zieker D.,
Weinreich J.,
Löb S.,
Königsrainer I.,
Symons S.,
Bühler S.,
Königsrainer A.,
Northoff H.,
Beckert S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03123.x
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetic foot , foot (prosody) , diabetic foot ulcer , diabetes mellitus , wound healing , soft tissue , tissue fluid , body fluid , surgery , pathology , endocrinology , philosophy , linguistics
Diabet. Med. 28, 175–178 (2011) Abstract Aims To investigate the impact of wound fluid lactate concentration on diagnosing soft‐tissue infection in diabetic foot ulcers. Methods Lactate concentration in wound fluid obtained from diabetic foot ulcers was determined using a lactate analyser and compared with clinical examination findings. Results Overall median wound fluid lactate concentration was 21.03 m m (5.58–80.40 m m ). Wound lactate levels were significantly higher in infected compared with non‐infected diabetic foot ulcers ( P = 0.001). Non‐infected diabetic foot ulcers that healed within 6 months of treatment showed a significantly lower wound fluid lactate concentration at baseline as opposed to those that did not heal ( P = 0.007). Conclusions Non‐healing diabetic foot ulcers are characterized by high wound fluid lactate levels. Assessment of wound fluid lactate concentration might be helpful for confirming the suspicion of soft tissue infection, particularly when clinical signs are atypical.