Fatima Ahmad, Anwarul Haq, Hassan Askari, Shamim Ahmad Khan.
Diabetic foot management; Role of topical application of "Papaya" in Wound-Healing.
Pak Postgrad Med J Jan ;12(4):138-42.

A trial was conducted in Surgical Unit I of Services Hospital, Lahore over a period of one year, to determine the efficacy of mashed flesh of Papaya fruit as a topically-applied dislodging and granulation-promoting agent in diabetic foot ulcer lesion. The 45 patients involved were grouped into two. Out of these, 23 patients who underwent dressings with papaya fruit, showed a more rapid desloughing, early granulation and quick wound healing compared to the remaining 22 patients undergoing saline dressings. On the average, the duration of hospital stay of papaya-dressed patients was 28 days, whereas in the other group it was 43 days. The difference, as we can see, is significantly substantial. Known complications of Diabetes such as peripheral neuropathy, vasculopathy, nephropathy and susceptibility to infection, which are considered contributory factors in the pathogenesis of diabetic foot lesions, were found to greatly impair healing.

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