Patients suffering from peripheral gangrene caused by diabetes may be relieved of the worry of having to have a limb amputated, thanks to a new treatment invented by a local hospital.
The Taipei Veterans General Hospital Department of Cardiac Surgery announced at a press conference yesterday a new remedy for peripheral necrosis commonly seen on the feet of diabetes patients.
The chief of the department's intensive care unit Yu Chen-tang (游振堂) said that 4.45 percent of the country's population suffer from diabetes and 17.5 percent of them suffer from blood vessel obstruction in the lower part of the body.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Yu said that these patients' blood platelets become easily activated and sticky due to the irregularity of their blood vessels, and this further contributes to the obstruction of blood flow.
The new treatment involves a combination of Pletaal and Plavix, both strong medications for the suppression of platelet adhesion and activation. Yu told reporters that since 2003, the department has tried a combination of the two drugs on diabetes patients.
Although the two medicines have been used to help dilate blood vessels for a long time, the hospital may be the first to apply a combination of them to treat diabetes gangrene, Yu said.
He said the medication had helped 25 diabetes patients, most of whom are elderly, to avoid an amputation.
According to Yu, after a three-month treatment, the dead skin on the patients' feet naturally separated from the healthy part and eventually came off "just like the umbilical cord or a lizard's tail."
Yu said the use of Pletaal and Plavix is not the only treatment for the illness, but that as an addition to conventional treatments such as blood vessel bypass surgery and reconstruction, "it brings new hope."
However, he also said that patients who receive the treatment had minor side effects such as headaches and stomach disorders.
He added that the medication cannot be used on patients whose gangrene includes pustules, or those who are not responsive to the hospital's pain control therapy.
The cost of the two kinds of medicine is covered by the national health insurance, according to Yu.
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