Efficacy and safety of ALA-PDT in treatment of diabetic foot ulcer with infection.

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) with infection is a major clinical issue, as the infection not only potentially devastate the wound healing, but also is the factor that most often leads to amputation. Nevertheless, traditional antibiotic treatment is often insufficient to clear the infection, which could lead to side effects. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has broad-spectral antibacterial activity. Meanwhile, it is difficult to induce antibiotic resistance. Here, we aim to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) in the treatment of DFUs with infection.

Methods: In our study, 5 diabetic patients with infectious DFUs were diagnosed by pathological examination and the depth of wound was examined by X-Ray. All patients' wounds were firstly irradiated with 20% ALA-PDT (635 nm, 100 J/cm, 80 mW/cm) using the red LED to control the infection. Treatment will be combined with debridement if there is granulation necrosis or secretion on the wound surface. PDT sessions were performed weekly in all patients until healing was achieved. All patients were followed up for 0.6-1.2 years after treatment.

Results: In 5 patients, the DFUs with infection was completely controlled by ALA-PDT. There was no recurrence of DFUs in the follow-up of 0.9 years (range, 0.6-1.2 years) after the treatment.

Conclusions: ALA-PDT treatment for DFUs with infection show successful outcomes and might ultimately avoid amputation.