Dopplers useful for detecting PVD in diabetes

MEASURING ankle-brachial index (ABI) by Doppler ultrasound is an effective screening tool for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in patients with diabetes, Australian researchers said at the recent Australian Diabetes Society and Australian Diabetes Educators Association annual scientific meeting in Adelaide.

Diabetes educators trained in ABI measurements using Doppler ultrasound screened 102 patients with diabetes, and concluded it was superior to physical examination alone in identifying PVD.

An abnormal ABI, classified as below 1.0, was identified in 64% of patients.

The researchers found neither age, nor duration of diabetes, appeared to be a predictor of an abnormal ABI result.

“Our results... highlighted that screening for PVD based on the ankle-brachial index gives more significant information than physical examination alone,” they concluded.

A diabetes management/foot survey of the patients found 60% had not had their feet checked by a health professional in the previous year.

Lead researcher Angela Blair, a diabetes educator at Diabetes Australia-NSW, said: “The first step should still be regular foot assessment, and if PVD is suspected, then Doppler can be used as a screening tool.”

More from the ADS/ADEA annual scientific meeting: Guidelines for individualised HbA1c targets to be released soon; Illicit drug use common among young with diabetes; Fibrate's CVD benefit in type 2 diabetes underestimated