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Plasma Treatment of the Diabetic Foot Syndrome

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Textbook of Good Clinical Practice in Cold Plasma Therapy

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Abstract

Diabetic foot syndrome is a common late complication of diabetes, with chronic wounds originating from either neuropathic or angiopathic disorders. Impaired perfusion, increased microbial load, and a prolonged inflammation phase account for chronification, requiring target-directed therapy. New therapeutic approaches are needed to improve healing rate, save limbs, and increase quality of life in patients in a steadily growing cohort of patients.

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has turned out to not only have antiseptic effects if used in wound treatment, but was also shown to improve wound healing via direct cellular effects.

This chapter summarizes clinical experience in application of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) from case reports and clinical studies. CAP was well tolerated and yielded significant improvement in wound healing in terms of acceleration of wound closure. New studies have led to the assumption that the antimicrobial effects were less relevant than expected from previous analyses, the cellular effects, and stimulation of microcirculation account for clinical success. CAP therefore represents a new clinical option in the treatment of superficial chronic wounds like DFU.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Herz- und Diabeteszentrum NRW, Diabeteszentrum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany

    Bernd Stratmann, Tania-Cristina Costea & Diethelm Tschoepe

  2. Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Bernd Stratmann, Tania-Cristina Costea & Diethelm Tschoepe

Authors
  1. Bernd Stratmann
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  2. Tania-Cristina Costea
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  3. Diethelm Tschoepe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernd Stratmann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Greifswald University Hospital, Greifswald, Germany

    Hans-Robert Metelmann

  2. Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Greifswald, Germany

    Thomas von Woedtke

  3. Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), Greifswald, Germany

    Klaus-Dieter Weltmann

  4. University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Steffen Emmert

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Stratmann, B., Costea, TC., Tschoepe, D. (2022). Plasma Treatment of the Diabetic Foot Syndrome. In: Metelmann, HR., von Woedtke, T., Weltmann, KD., Emmert, S. (eds) Textbook of Good Clinical Practice in Cold Plasma Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87857-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87857-3_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87856-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-87857-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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