Q: This query is regarding a patient of diabetes mellitus who has developed severe foot infection & his 3/4 of the plantar skin is necrosed. We are doing his daily dressings. What cream or lotion should be used as to get good granulation?

A:This infected foot as described by yourself sounds very serious indeed, and advice by e-mail can obviously only be very limited. The essential needs for a seriously infected foot are as follows: 1. Complete bed rest with the foot elevated. 2. Intensive preferably intravenous antibiotic treatment. 3. Surgical debrigement of necrotic and infected tissue. 4. The wound should be cleaned with simple saline solution and dressed with a nonadhesive dressing. No special cream or other special dressings are required. Clearly a specialist diabetes physician and surgeon are needed in complicated cases of this kind. I hope these comments may help.