This study aimed to assess the impact of early postoperative physical therapy combined with an educational program on wound recurrence and quality of life in patients with diabetic foot ulcers.The revised text uses past tense to match the description of a completed study, maintaining consistency throughout the abstract.
This single-blind, block-randomized, group-comparison study included 48 postoperative patients with diabetic foot ulcers. Patients were randomly assigned to either an intervention group, receiving both physical therapy and an educational program (n=25), or a control group, receiving physical therapy alone (n=23). Interventions in both groups began the day after surgery. The intervention group received physical therapy followed by a 15-minute educational session on disease management, conducted five times a week. The primary outcome was the wound recurrence rate at 6 months post-discharge. Secondary outcomes included PAID, IPAQ, EQ-5D-5L, and FIM assessments.
The intervention group showed a significantly lower wound recurrence rate within 6 months post-discharge (10.5%, two patients) than the control group (27.7%, five patients). No significant differences were found between the groups in terms of PAID, IPAQ, EQ-5D-5L, or FIM scores at admission or discharge.
Early postoperative physical therapy combined with an educational program may effectively reduce wound recurrence in patients with foot ulcers.
These findings highlight the importance of integrating early patient education with physical therapy to prevent wound recurrence in diabetic foot ulcer patients. This approach is essential for patients who require inpatient care.
recurrence prevention
educational program
