A recent study, led by Cynthia Formosa of the University of Malta, says healthcare professionals should be cautious when doing vascular foot assessments.

Both ABPIs (Ankle Brachial Pressure Index) and Doppler waveforms should be used in assessing patients with diabetes in order to screen for Peripheral Arterial Disease, the study says.

It demonstrates the ABPI in patients with diabetes is frequently normal even in the presence of arterial disease.

Combining Doppler waveforms and ABPI measurements yields more reliable results without significantly increasing testing time.

The authors recommend that both modalities should be used in diabetic patients, and when these do not concur, further evaluation should be performed.

The Diabetes Foot Research Group at the University of Malta, in collaboration with Staffordshire University in the UK, is also carrying out research in the field of diagnostics, utilising an infra-red camera to determine the prognosis of diabetic patients with vascular disease.

The research was published in the peer reviewed journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, entitled Dangers Revealed by Misdiagnosed Peripheral Arterial Disease Using Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) Measurements.