Cost Effectiveness and Implementation of an Easy to Apply Total Contact Casting for Diabetic Grade 2 Neuropathic Foot Ulcers in a Multi Physician Clinic

Contact Casting has been considered the Gold Standard for Offloading Diabetic Foot wounds, and yet many wound care providers avoid using this modality. Barriers to use have included prior experience, complexity of application, unfamiliarity with casting, concern over complications, and time involved with application. An innovative easy to apply contact cast system has been developed that addresses these barriers to use. Alternative offloading methods have been the norm in our clinic. Felt and foam applied in a tailored fashion to the patient has been the preferred method of offloading in our clinic.  Nursing staff has been primarily responsible for the felt and foam application and although very experienced with the technique, nursing staff realize that it takes time to apply customized layers to the patient. This easy to apply contact casting system was introduced to physicians who had a varied experience with casting.  As part of a contact cast system product evaluation, concurrent evaluation of felt and foam application for offloading was monitored as well. Our findings are presented as a review of our experience.