U.S. Says Device Can Prevent Many Diabetic Amputations

A simple $10 tool could help spare thousands of American diabetics from foot amputations, the Public Health Service said Friday.

It is urging primary-care practitioners to use the device, called a monofilament, to check the sensitivity of diabetics’ feet. The tool consists of a nylon bristle on an acrylic plastic handle.

A trained medical practitioner can use it to obtain early indications that a patient has lost sensation in the foot. How much the bristle bends and how the patient responds is a tip-off to circulation problems.

Left untreated, such problems lead to amputations for 54,000 diabetics each year at a cost of $40,000 each.

Federal health officials said that up to 90% of those amputations could be prevented if the problem is detected early enough.

With detection, diabetics can avoid amputation by selecting the right footwear, inspecting their feet daily, receiving an annual foot screening by medical personnel and taking other measures to prevent ulcers from forming.

The monofilament was developed at the Hansen’s Disease Center in Carville, La., to help patients with leprosy, another condition that causes loss of sensation in the feet.

The Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the Public Health Service, has distributed the devices and training materials to more than 600 community and migrant health centers nationwide.

Sixteen million Americans have diabetes, including 7 million diagnosed with the disease. The government estimates 1.75 million of them will develop foot problems.