Question

Ocupational therapy assistance

Often patients come to us with co-morbidities. For example, the primary reason we may be seeing patient could be because they were injured in a car accident, however the patient could also present with Type II Diabetes. Using the information that you gathered for your Diabetes Condition Worksheet, please answer the following question. Would knowing that your patient not only sustained a broken arm in the car accident but also had been diagnosed with type II diabetes change your treatment plan? How?

Answer 1

In a healthy adult with no co-morbiditiesa broken bone heals in a period of 3 weeks,but patient who have diabetes the wound healing naturally takes time to heal.The main reason is because of the excess glucose in the blood the circulation is disturbed or slowed down.When there is poor circulation the wound doesn't get enough nutrients to repair and fight an infection.The wound is at high risk of being invaded by foreign organisms and causing infection.This ultimately prolongs the healing period.Hence a change of treatment line is necessary

• Screening of diabetes by doing a diabetic panel ,to plan for care
• Starting antibiotic which doesn't interact with diabetic medication
• An insulin is the preferred choice at this stage
• Low carbohydrate ,high protein diet can enhance faster healing and diabetic control
• Regular monitoring of blood sugar level ,because of the chance of hypoglycemia
• Encouraging patient to participate in early physical therapy to regain the function of the bone.