International Consensus on the Diabetic Foot

International Consensus on the Diabetic Foot International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot, 1999. ISBN, 90-90127126-x, 96 pp (+Practical Guidelines 16 pp). Publisher, International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot, PO Box 9533, 1006 GA Amsterdam, The Netherlands . Available from: M. Wijnandts, Fax: +31 43 3875006, Email: mwy@sint.azm.nl. Price: EURO 25 (US $22.50) Henry Connor Diabetologist* This publication is the result of a three year on-going project involving 45 experts (physicians, surgeons, general practitioners, nurses and podiatrists) from 23 countries and six continents. It is indeed an international consensus and has been endorsed by the International Diabetes Federation. The original document is in English but it has already been translated into ten languages. The book is divided into three parts. The first is a short three page section aimed at those who determine health care policy and those who commission services; it emphasises the magnitude and costs of diabetic foot problems, and the potential benefits of effective foot care services. The main section is the consensus document, which covers all aspects of diabetic foot disease including epidemiology, pathophysiology, prevention, diagnosis, management and organisation of care, and which includes a comprehensive 192 reference bibliography. The third section is a separate 16 page pamphlet, the Practical Guidelines, which is intended for use in the clinic or surgery and which is well illustrated with line diagrams and drawings. The text provides a comprehensive yet compact review of the evidence base, supplemented where necessary by authoritative opinion, and the Practical Guidelines are truly practical. Those departments that have already produced guidelines will still find useful information and ideas to enhance their own efforts. The guidelines are currently being implemented in countries around the world, and feedback on those projects will be given at the 4th International Symposium on the Diabetic Foot in Holland in 2003.