[doctor] hey nicholas nice to see you today your pcp looks like he sent you over for a nonhealing foot ulcer on your right foot can you tell me about how long you've had that [patient] yeah i've had the boot for about six weeks i first noticed it when i put on a pair of shoes that were little bit too tight i felt some burning and some stinging and looked down and saw a blister i did n't think too much of it because it was on the pad of the bottom of my foot around my heel and i just had been walking on the front part of my foot i started to notice a foul smell and my wife mentioned something to me the other day and i noticed my dog was also smelling my socks a lot and so we looked and saw that the blister had become unroofed or the the top part of the skin of the blister became undone and then underneath it was just this really thick soft mushy skin that had a bad smell with some yellow drainage and so and barbara called the primary care doctor who then got me in to see you he started me on some antibiotics about six days ago and i never had any nausea or vomiting but my wife checked my temperature it was about ninety nine point seven and then at one point i had to put on an extra blanket in bed because i had some chills and when i started the antibiotics it started to feel pretty good but we've now noticed that it has turned black around the outside of the wound and i'm getting some cramping in my calf muscle as well and so there was a red streak also that was coming up the front part of my my ankle along the inside portion of my calf muscle and it's super super hot and so they wanted me to take a have have you look at it [doctor] okay thank you for sharing that history with me and did you complete that course of antibiotics [patient] i think he called in ten days' worth and i'm on day six or seven right now i know i've got about two or three days left [doctor] okay and you mentioned that it had some stinging and it was a bit uncomfortable are you experiencing any pain right now [patient] yeah it was it was stinging initially like i had just done something small but at this point it's it's really like throbbing it's almost like there is a fire poker in the bottom of my foot now and then the inside of my calf muscle is really hard and i've noticed that every time that i push that i feel it all the way up to my knee behind my kneecap and then noticed that i've been coughing a lot the last two days and then i've noticed that i've had like difficult time catching my breath when i'm walking around the house and so it's almost like two different things going on at this point [doctor] okay so now i see here in your record that you have some that you're diabetic and have some diabetic neuropathy as well how's your blood sugars been running i'm i'm assuming kind of all over the place over the last i'm gon na say probably three or four weeks can you tell me about that [patient] yeah my my a1c is six point seven it's pretty well controlled [doctor] okay [patient] i used to be on an insulin pump and i had an a1c that at one point was like thirteen but we worked with an endocrinologist to get it down to where it's at now i've been six point seven for probably two years now and i rarely have a blood sugar that goes over two hundred i check two or three times a day if i feel weird i'll check it again but i noticed my sugars have probably been trending in the three to four hundreds the last two weeks and then i had one spike at one point at like five or six hundred that got our attention and i think that's also what made my wife call the primary care doc [doctor] okay now i know this was caused by a new pair of shoes you had mentioned before to your pcp and he relayed this to me that you really like to go on hikes you and your wife have been hiking have you gone to the new trails that that were just opened up here behind the park [patient] yeah we actually hiked to charlie's bunion about a week before this i've had a new pair of diabetic shoes and inserts i get those every year i changed the inserts every three or four months i mean i've been in cruise control as far as that goes for some time i did get a new pair of shoes the prosthetist told me to check my feet every day for the first week or two which we did i did go hiking about the third or fourth day and i think that might be what caused it as i just went too far when we were hiking but yeah the trails are the trails are gorgeous they're open it's time to to be outside and i'm sorta stuck with this right now [doctor] absolutely yeah my wife and i like to go back there and and hike those trails as well so i'm gon na do a quick physical exam for your vital signs i do recognize a slight fever however your vitals themselves look good now on your foot exam i do recognize the necrotic wound on your heel as you mentioned it is present it's approximately two by two centimeters i i do recognize the sloughing of the of the tissue as well as what looks like cellulitis around the area as well as erythemia so now unfortunately i do also smell the odor you are correct it is it does it is odds but i do not appreciate any bony exposure now on vascular exam i do have bilateral palpable pulses femorally and popliteal pulses are present however i do n't recognize a palpable pulse dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial however i did use the doppler and they are present via doppler now i'm gon na press on the actual affected area of the wound do you have any pain there [patient] i do n't feel that right there [doctor] okay i'm gon na review the results of your right foot x-ray that we did when you came in today the good news is i do n't see any evidence of osteomyelitis meaning that there is no infection of the bone so let's talk a little bit about my assessment and plan for this nonhealing diabetic foot ulcer i'm going to order a test to check blood supply for this wound also i'm going to do a debridement today in the office we may have to look at we are going to do a culture and we may have to look at different antibiotic therapy i am concerned about the redness that's moving up your leg as well as this the the swelling and pain that you have in your calf so we're gon na monitor this very closely i wan na see you again in seven days and then as far as your diabetes is concerned i do want you to follow up with your endocrinologist and make sure that we do continue to keep your hemoglobin a1c below seven and we're gon na need to closely monitor your blood sugars since we're going to be doing some medication therapy with antibiotics and and potentially some other medications any other questions comments or concerns before i have the nurse come in we're gon na prep you for that procedure [patient] no not really so you're gon na continue the antibiotics that i'm on and possibly extend or call in a new antibiotic depending on the culture [doctor] correct [patient] if i heard [doctor] yep that's correct so what we're gon na do is you said you're six days in do a ten or twelve day course so we're gon na go ahead and continue your antibiotics therapy that your pcp put you on i do want to get the culture back and then we'll make the determination as far as additional or changing that antibiotic therapy [patient] okay sounds good [doctor] alright
ASSESSMENT

Right non-healing diabetic foot ulcer.
 Diabetes.

PLAN

After reviewing the patient's examination and radiographic findings today, I have had a lengthy discussion with the patient in regard to his current symptoms. I have explained to him that I do not see any evidence of osteomyelitis. I am concerned about the redness that is moving up his leg, as well as the swelling, and pain that he has in his calf. I have recommended that we obtain a venous ultrasound to check his blood supply for the wound. I have also recommended that we perform a debridement of the wound today. We may have to obtain a culture and look at different antibiotic therapy. I am recommending that he continue with antibiotics that his primary care physician prescribed.
 
 In regard to his diabetes, I have advised him to follow up with his endocrinologist to ensure that we do continue to keep his hemoglobin A1c below 7. We will need to closely monitor his blood sugar since we are going to be doing some medication therapy with antibiotics and potentially some other medications depending on the culture results.