The Role of Muscle Elastic Properties of Extrinsic Foot Muscles, Muscle Oxygenation and Plantar Pressure Change in Determining Diabetic Foot Ulcer Risk

Recent guidelines for the treatment and prevention of diabetic foot complications emphasize the management/control of diabetes, foot care, patient education and self-management of foot care . Other rehabilitation approaches, including exercise therapy, have recently come to the forefront in the literature within the scope of preventive treatments. Exercises have been shown to be beneficial in diabetic patients, especially in increasing nerve velocity conduction in the lower extremities . As a result of these recommendations, evaluation of the risk of diabetic foot ulceration before ulceration develops, detailed analysis of all tissues and systems expected to be affected may be solved with preventive strategies by reducing the need for treatment.

The change in plantar pressure distribution in patients with diabetes is one of the mechanisms that form the basis of the mechanisms of foot ulcer formation. Altered biomechanical structure, high intensity and repetitive diffuse pressure due to neuropathy, and insufficiency of vascular tissues caused by peripheral arterial disease directly affect the plantar pressure distribution . Determining this change before diabetic wound formation, analyzing the changing plantar pressure ratios and determining the condition in the presence of neuropathy may improve the quality of the treatment program to be created.

In the study conducted by Stephens et al. In the study conducted by Stephens et al. the plantar surface tissue of the intrinsic foot muscles oxidized following exercise interventions in patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus.