LAUSR

AIM In the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic era patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) manifested more severe forms of Sars-Cov-2 with greater mortality than non-diabetic patients. Several studies documented more aggressive forms of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) during the pandemic period, even though the results were not unanimously confirmed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical-demographic differences between a cohort of Sicilian diabetic patients hospitalized for DFU in the pre-pandemic three years versus a cohort of patients hospitalized in the pandemic two years. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and eleven patients from the pre-pandemic period 2017-2019 (Group A) and 86 patients from the pandemic period 2020-2021 (Group B) with DFU, admitted to the division of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the University Hospital of Palermo, were retrospectively evaluated. The clinical assessment of the type, staging and grading of the lesion and the infective complication from DFU was performed. RESULTS No differences in HbA1c values were observed between the two groups. Group B showed a significantly higher prevalence of male subjects (p=0.010), neuro-ischemic ulcers (p<0.001), deep ulcers with involvement of bones (p<0.001), white blood count levels (p<0.001), and Reactive C protein (p=0.001) compared to group A. CONCLUSIONS Our data show that in the COVID-19 pandemic a greater severity of ulcers requiring a significantly greater number of revascularizations and more expensive therapy, but without an increase in the amputation rate, was observed. These data provide novel information on the impact of the pandemic on diabetic foot ulcer risk and progression. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.