The Impact of Statin Therapy on the Healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Retrospective Chart Review.

Abstract

Abstract Background Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are a costly complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), with significant implications for the patient and the healthcare professionals that treat them. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate if there were improved healing rates in patients with DFU that were taking a statin medication compared to those patients with a DFU who were not taking a statin medication. Secondary outcomes assessed were associations with wound healing or statin use on data obtained from retrospective chart review. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed to obtain appropriate demographic information, comorbid conditions, laboratory values, and physical examination findings. From the time of presentation with DFU, these patients were followed for 12 weeks to evaluate for healing. Healing was defined as full epithelialization of the DFU with no further drainage. Wound healing and statin use association testing was then done for collected variables and each cohort. A univariate analysis was then performed with a linear regression calculator to identify any significant associations. Results Our study identified 109 patients, 75 patients with DFU on statin medication and 34 patients with DFU not on statin medication. The statin cohort was more likely to be older, less than 5-year duration of diabetes, have more comorbidities, decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and decreased total cholesterol (p < 0.05). 48.0% (36/75) of patients taking a statin medication healed their DFU within 12 weeks. Among those patients not taking a statin medication, 44.1% (15/34) healed their DFU within 12 weeks. No association was noted between wound healing and statin use (p = 0.71). For wound healing, associations were noted for prior minor amputations (p < 0.05). For statin use, associations were noted between age, duration of DM, LDL cholesterol level, total cholesterol level, HTN, CAD, and HLD (p < 0.05). Conclusions Statin medication did not influence DFU healing rates between cohorts. There was an association noted between wound healing and prior minor amputations and between statin use and age, duration of DM, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, HTN, CAD and HLD. Additionally, we observed no association between DFU healing rates and use of a statin medication.