Statins may be associated with six-week diabetic foot ulcer healing

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) affect 1.5 million Americans annually, of which only a minority heal with standard care, and they commonly lead to amputation. To improve care, investigations are underway to better understand DFU pathogenesis and develop more effective therapies. Some currently used medications may improve healing. One small, randomized clinical trial found statins improve DFU healing. In this secondary analysis of a large multisite prospective observational cohort of 139 patients with DFUs receiving standard care, we investigated whether there was an association between 6-week DFU wound size reduction and use of a variety of medications including alpha-blockers, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) and statins. We found no significant (p<0.05) association between six-week wound reduction and use of any of the evaluated drugs; however, statins did trend toward an association (p=0.057). This suggests a potential benefit of statins on DFU healing, and larger, targeted studies are warranted.