Not all wounds of the foot need surgery. Too often doctors can be pre-programmed to tell a patient when faced with a difficult diabetic toe wound, to just amputate the toe. Amputation many times is the best solution, but not always.

As can be seen in the picture above, the toe on the right is the initial presentation of the patient , the one on the left is a little then 2 months later.

The above patient presented with a deep penetrating diabetic toe wound and was at high risk for loss of a toe. X rays were positive for bone infection.

Not all toes that are infected, even if the bone is infected, need amputation. This is a great case of no surgery needed. 6 Weeks IV antibiotics was all that was needed to get rid of the infection.

This case is a great example of not rushing to surgery, and utilizing a team approach of Vascular and Infectious disease specialists to prevent amputation.