Medtronic Meeting 2025, Barcelona, Spain – Interview about our experience in treating patients with diabetic foot and the new revascularization techniques.
What was said in the Medtronic Meeting 2025 interview?
At the Medtronic Meeting 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, an interview was given on the team's experience in treating patients with diabetic foot and on new revascularisation techniques.
An diabetic foot is a modern pandemic, linked to the continuous increase in the number of people with diabetes worldwide. Every 20 seconds a diabetic foot is amputated somewhere on the planet.
What is revascularisation?
It is the restoration of blood flow to a limb whose arteries have narrowed or become occluded. It is performed with angioplasty and stent, with atherectomy or with a surgical bypass, depending on the location and extent of the lesion.
Why is it critical in diabetic foot?
In the diabetic foot nerve damage is combined with reduced blood supply. The patient may not feel the wound, while at the same time the blood reaching it is not enough to heal it. Without revascularisation, local care on its own is not enough.
What are the newer techniques?
They include drug-coated balloons that reduce restenosis, atherectomy catheters that remove the plaque without implanting a stent, and techniques for accessing the arteries below the knee. The choice is made individually.
What is the Medtronic Meeting?
An international meeting where clinical experience is presented from centres applying new techniques. The exchange of data between centres has practical value, since each centre has a limited number of cases.
What is the scale of the problem?
Diabetic foot is linked to the continuous increase in the number of people with diabetes worldwide. By 2050 one in seven people is expected to have diabetes, while 25% of them will develop a foot ulcer at some point. Every 20 seconds a diabetic foot is amputated somewhere on the planet.
What can be done preventively?
Daily inspection of the feet, appropriate footwear, regular vascular check-ups and proper control of diabetes. See also peripheral arterial disease.
The procedures are performed in the IGS7 hybrid operating room (GE Healthcare) of the Athens Medical Center, where Prof. Theodosios Bisdas directs the 3rd Vascular Surgery Department. See the page on the hybrid operating room.
