ISMJ

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common of the endocrine disorders characterized by hyperglycemia. Diabetes mellitus affects every organ of the body including the skin. Skin lesions have negative impact on quality of life of diabetic patients and it is also very frustrating for both patients and their physicians. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of skin lesions are mainly unknown.The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of skin manifestations in this patients.

Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was performed on 700 patients attending to the diabetes clinic. The Institute ethical clearance was obtained before the start of the study.A complete cutaneous examination was done in all cases. A detailed dermatological examination was carried out by a consultant dermatologist and cutaneous findings were recorded. Relevant microbiologic and histopathological investigations were done whenever they were necessary to diagnose the cutaneous disorders.Statistical analysis was carried out by using t- test and Chi-square test.  

Results:Seven hundred patients(73% women and 27% men )were enrolled in the study.Diabetic skin manifestations were detected in 94.5% of diabetic patients.The most common skin lesions were cherry angioma (37%),skin tag (32%) and eczema (32.8%).Our study showed a significant difference between the involvement by skin lesions and duration of diabetes (P=0.05) and age of patients (P=0.03) but it didn,t show any  significant difference between the involvement of skin lesions and HbA₁C

Conclusion: Our study showed that the skin lesions are common in DM patients and the duration of diabetes and age are positively correlated with skin lesions. For these reasons, education and special attention to medical staff and patients and searching approach to early diagnosis and treatment of skin lesions seem to be necessary.