Diabetic Wound Care in Cuba for North Carolina Families

Diabetic wound care is a complex, multifaceted process that requires addressing multiple factors simultaneously. Simply applying dressings is not enough — effective wound care requires debridement, infection management, pressure relief, vascular assessment, and sometimes advanced therapies like growth factors.

Cuba's comprehensive diabetic wound care program includes: thorough wound assessment (classification by Wagner grade, measurement, photographic documentation), surgical debridement (removal of necrotic tissue, callus, and biofilm), Heberprot-P intralesional therapy (recombinant epidermal growth factor for chronic wounds), infection management (cultures, antibiotics, local antiseptics), off-loading (total contact casting, specialized footwear, crutches), specialized dressings (selected based on wound exudate, depth, and infection status), vascular assessment (Doppler, angiography, referral for revascularization if needed), and comprehensive patient education (daily foot inspection, proper footwear, blood sugar management, smoking cessation).

This comprehensive approach is delivered by a multidisciplinary team in a concentrated 2–4 week program. The key advantage over U.S. wound care is coordination — all treatments are delivered by a single team in a single location, rather than fragmented across multiple specialists and visits. For American patients with chronic diabetic wounds, this coordinated approach can make the difference between healing and amputation.