Diabetic Ulcers: Wagner Ulcer Classification System

Diabetes leads to many secondary health complications, including nerve pain, loss of vision and even impairment in cognitive function. For some diabetics, the progressive, and uncontrolled, aspect of the disease often results in amputation of toes and even entire limbs.

Amputation of a limb is a life altering and traumatic experience. For diabetics, the amputation of a toes and limbs is often attributed to ulcers of the feet, infections in the toes, feet and legs, and even the development of gangrene. The prevalence of foot and toe complications, in diabetics, is believed to affect nearly 20 percent of the diabetic population in the United States.

Managing foot disorders in the diabetic sufferer is key to avoiding amputation of any aspect of the lower extremity. This management process involve the treatment of ulcers that development but also managing the vascular flow to the particular extremity affected. Without proper vascular flow, or blood flow, to the extremity, the ulcerated tissue will be far more complex to heal.

There is a wound classification process that is commonly used among physicians who treat diabetic patients with ulcerated foot and leg wounds. Known as the Wagner Ulcer Classification System, this process of categorization is based upon the type of lesion presence, assigning a grade.

An example of Wager ulcer classification might be a diabetic patient who is experiencing joint sepsis with no evidence of gangrene in the ulcerated area. This foot or leg disorder would be assigned a Grade 3 classification on the Wagner scale.

The treatment of a foot or leg ulcer begins with this Wagner classification and then is coupled with a classification for vascular flow, ultimately determining what course of treatment the physician will follow.