Healing of diabetic foot ulcers is independently associated with the use of angiotensin receptor blockers but not with those of diuretics and angiotensin conversion enzyme inhibitors.

AIM: Dysregulation of the renin angiotensin system (RAS) has been proven in diabetic animal models, and studies in humans show that diuretic use is associated with lower limb amputation in diabetes. While patients with diabetes are often treated with diuretics and RAS blockers, the association between wound healing and these treatments is still unknown. We aimed to determine whether the use of diuretics and RAS blockers could influence healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU).

METHODS

Two hundred seventy-six patients referred to a specialized diabetes foot care unit for a new foot ulcer were included in this retrospective observational study.

RESULTS

Healing rate was significantly higher in patients not treated with diuretics than in those receiving diuretics (75.9 vs. 62.9%, P = 0.026) and in patients treated with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) than in those not treated with ARB (79.5 vs 64.4%, P = 0.012). The difference was not significant for angiotensin conversion enzyme inhibitor use. ARB use was independently and positively associated with wound healing in a multivariate adjusted model including several factors affecting wound healing (odds ratio (OR) 2.79 [1.13, 6.86] P = 0.025). Diuretic use was negatively associated with wound healing in univariate analysis (OR 0.54 [0.32, 0.91] P = 0.02) but not in multivariate adjusted analysis (OR 0.53 [0.26, 1.10] P = 0.088).

CONCLUSIONS

This novel study found that ARB use is independently and positively associated with wound healing in 276 patients with DFU. On the contrary, diuretics were associated with healing rate only at univariate analysis. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.