British Journal of Research Offener Zugang

Abstrakt

Amputation in a Ghanaian teenager with type 1 diabetes mellitus: A rare case

Emmanuel Ameyaw

Objectives:To present a 17 year old female who developed left
leg ulcer which resulted in amputation.
Children and adolescents with diabetes in Africa usually died
early before complications could set in. This was due to the fact
there was no enough care and support for such patients in Africa
such as organized pediatric diabetes clinics and expertise to
manage them. Under the auspices of the World Diabetes Foundation,
European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and International
Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, pediatric
endocrinologist are being trained in Kenya and Lagos
for the African Sub-region. Ghana has trained three pediatric
endocrinologists through this program. As a result, awareness
about diabetes among children and adolescents has significantly
improved across African including Ghana. Children with diabetes
are being diagnosed, managed and followed up. However,
comprehensive care for these patients pose a great challenge
due to a multiple factors such as lack of continuous supply
of insulin from the local governments, laboratory support and
non compliancewith medication and appointments on the side
of patients due to extreme poverty. These factors predispose
these children to complications rather than early mortality.