Question	Resident 1	Resident 2	Resident 3	Resident 4	Resident 5
Does proforma help in recording all findings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Does proforma help in follow up of patient	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Do you find proforma useful for counselling the patient	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Is the Consent of the proforma helpful	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Do you think the proforma helps in medicolegal cases	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Is the pre–operative checklist helpful	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Will you recommend this proforma to other surgeons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

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Diabetes is a chronic disease. It occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin; then it leads to hyperglycaemia. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus will lead to hyperglycaemia for longer duration resulting in end-organ damage. Diabetic foot infections, which are infections of the soft tissue or bone below the malleoli, are a common clinical problem ^[3] leading to hospitalisation.

It needs a multidisciplinary approach from multiple specialists like a general surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon, plastic surgeon, endocrinologist, orthotics etc for the appropriate management and to prevent recurrent infections.

A task force was formed by the American diabetes association (ADA) to give guidelines for the assessment of risk and the appropriate examination of diabetic foot infection patients ^[4]. Diabetology associations form various counties including USA, UK, Canada^[5] have given guidelines that are followed in their regular clinical practice for the management and risk assessment. Most podiatrists use various charts and proformas to help in the assessment of the patients who present with foot infections and during follow-up,

However, there is no single proforma available to guide a physician or surgeon when a patient presents with a diabetic foot infection. We have tried to include all the problems encountered by a surgeon/plastic surgeon in diabetes foot management in our proforma for proper assessment and care.

Proforma based management helps not to miss any important finding or investigations. It also helps to maintain a checklist which can be a guide through the investigations and management. It also helps to keep track of the various treatment options and advice given at previous visits. However, it has to be used as a guide. It has to be individualised to each patient and the condition at which they present.

In government hospitals where there are various residents taking care of one patient, it helps to keep track of the stage of management.

Our proforma also gives the format of various consent forms, which can be individualised but has the advantage of forming a standard template. This may also help in medico-legal issues.

The checklist for the surgeon in the peri-operative period will ensure that all the standard protocols are followed, which helps both in effective patient care and streamlining of the support staff for increasing the efficiency.

It will help not only in the management of patients but also help in easier access to information in case the patient needs to be referred to another centre. It also helps in maintaining a data bank for future analysis and publications.