Evaluation of neuropathy in epidermal growth factor-administered patients diagnosed with diabetic foot

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) administered to patients diagnosed with diabetic foot on neuropathy. Materials and Methods: The study is an analytical type study with a single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. It was conducted with 30 patients diagnosed with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes who applied to the wound care unit and cardiovascular surgery outpatient clinic at Pamukkale University Hospitals between March, 2021 and November, 2022. By not using the sampling method, all patients who received EGF in the units were reached. Data were collected by "structured patient information form", "SIMBAD classification", and "LANSS pain scale." Data were obtained as a "pretest" before the administration of EGF and as a "posttest" applied one month after the completion of EGF administration. Data were analyzed with Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, Spearman's Rank Correlation, McNemar, and Chi-Square Tests. Findings: It was observed that the average age of individuals with diabetic foot was 60.1±12.9, 40% were obese/morbidly obese, 83.3% were male, and 43.3% were treated with insulin + oral antidiabetic. It was determined that the number of years with diabetes was 17.37±10.93 years, and the duration of diabetic foot was 218.83±279.04 days. 46.7% of the participants were determined to have a previous foot wound and 33.3% had a history of amputation in the past. Neuropathy was present in 100% of the participants in the pre-test, while it was found to be 56.7% in the post-test. The participants with neuropathy were observed to have a significantly higher SINBAD classification and LANSS pain scale scores (p=0,01; p=.00). HbA1c, SINBAD, and LANSS scores decreased significantly after EGF (p=0,00; p=.00; p=.01). EGF administration was observed to have a statistically significant positive effect on neuropathy (p<.01). Results: EGF administration was observed to have a positive effect on the healing of foot ulcers, the reduction of neuropathic pain, and on neuropathy in patients diagnosed with diabetic foot. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Diabetic foot, Diabetic neuropathy, Neuropathic pain, Nursing, Epidermal growth factor