Author: Varun Naik, Chandra Bahadur Khatri, Ganesh BR, Department of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiotherapy, KAHER’s Institute of Physiotherapy, Belagavi, Karnataka, India.
Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the major complications following diabetes. In India, 15% of diabetic patient develop DFU once in their lifetime. Neuropathy associated with diabetes is a major factor in development of foot ulcer in such patients. Infection, peripheral arterial diseases, altered functions of white blood cells, stem cells and regenerating tissues and co-morbidities lead to delayed wound healing. Matrix rhythm therapy is a recent advancement in the field of Physiotherapy. It provides external oscillation that activates normal rhythm of cell that is between 8-12 Hz which improves cellular function within cell and extracellular matrix, enhancing tissue healing.
A 70 year female presented with infected diabetic foot ulcer on her right foot in out-patient department of KLE hospital. She had non-healing ulcer since one and half months and undergone conservative treatment of wound care along with strategies of diabetic foot care.
Clinical findings: Subject complained of Pain with score of 2 at rest and 6 while walking which was recorded on the basis of Visual Analogue Scale. Wound appeared ischemic and non-healing. On wound assessment, size of wound was 12mm in diameter and 6 mm depth. It was identified as Type D grade I on the basis of classification of wound provided by University of Texas Health Science center.
Intervention: Matrix rhythm therapy was applied on posterior aspect of leg region extending around wound area once a week for 5 weeks with treatment duration of one hour.
Result: Pain of the subject after 5 weeks of intervention was 0 at rest and 2 while walking on the basis of VAS. Size of wound decreased with dimension of 6mm in diameter and 2 mm depth and categorized as Type A grade 1.
Conclusion: Matrix rhythm therapy could be considered as adjunct in wound healing of diabetic foot ulcer.
Published: 2020-08-26, Journal of Contemporary Medical Sciences, [S.l.], v. 6, n. 4, aug. 2020. ISSN 2413-0516.