Ankle & Foot Centers Team With SolSys For DFU Research

Ankle & Foot Care Centers, Leading Medical Supplier Team Up For Research Project on Diabetic Foot Ulcers

BOARDMAN, Ohio (March 18, 2009) – A leading supplier of wound dressings is teaming up with Ankle and Foot Care Centers, the region’s largest group of podiatrists, on a research project designed to advance the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Soluble Systems LLC, makers of TheraGauze wound dressings, is funding the research, which is expected to start in April. Local individuals with diabetic foot ulcers are being sought to participate.

“Our team of doctors will monitor how three different types of dressings perform in the healing of diabetic foot ulcers,” said Dr. Lawrence A. DiDomenico, managing partner at Ankle & Foot Care Centers and the leader of the study.

“This research will be a real plus for our practice and for local diabetes patients,” Dr. DiDomenico added. “We are confident that the results will help advance the foot care available to diabetics.”

Ankle & Foot Care Centers, with 15 podiatrists and 20 offices throughout the Mahoning and Shenango valleys, is often selected for medical research projects because of the high volume of patients the group treats.

Ankle & Foot Care and Soluble Systems, based in Newport News, Va., are looking for local diabetic patients who have had ulcers on the bottoms of their feet for at least four weeks and who are not yet involved in a treatment program.

As part of the study, Dr. DiDomenico and his associates will treat their wounds with so-called “living skin equivalents,” or patches of laboratory-grown skin, and one of three types of wound dressings. All three dressings are widely used in wound care and approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Patients or their insurers will be billed for their care, but the wound dressings will be provided free of charge. Anyone interested in taking part in the study will need to sign a consent form and proceed through a screening process before qualifying to be included in the research.

Ankle & Foot Care and Soluble Systems expect to compile the results of the study by late 2009.

More information about participating in the study is available from the Ankle and Foot Care Centers Boardman office at 330-629-8800, or at any of the group’s 19 other offices.

Ankle & Foot Care Centers is the region’s largest podiatric care provider. Its 15 physicians and surgeons serve patients at 20 local offices, located in Alliance, Austintown, Boardman (2), Campbell, Champion, Columbiana, East Liverpool, East Palestine, Greenville (Pa.), Howland, Kinsman, Lake Milton, Liberty, Niles, Poland, Salem, Struthers, Warren and Youngstown. Specific locations and other information are located on the group’s website, at www.ankleandfootcare.com.

For more information, contact:

Michael Vallas, Practice Administrator, Ankle & Foot Care Centers Inc., (330) 758-6226 ext. 207, mike@ankleandfootcare.com

Dan Pecchia, Pecchia Communications, (330) 720-6912, dan@pecchiacomm.com

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