Off-label prescriptions in diabetic foot

• Main Authors: Luís Jesuíno de Oliveira Andrade, Larissa Santos França, Paulo Roberto Santana de Melo, Marcelo Araújo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Angiologia e de Cirurgia Vascular (SBACV) 2014-09-01
• Series: Jornal Vascular Brasileiro
• Subjects: uso off-label; pé diabético; diabetes mellitus
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1677-54492014000300192&lng=en&tlng=en

Prescription of a drug outside of the indications for which it was originally approved by regulators is internationally known as "off-label" prescription. We describe off-label treatments for the diabetic foot reported in international scientific literature. This is a qualitative and descriptive bibliographical review based on the results of a search of the Medline international database. The criteria for review were publication between January 1985 and November 2013, and the MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) keywords "off-label use" OR "off-label" OR "off-label prescribing" plus "diabetic foot" were input on the search form. Nine studies were selected that contained information about off-label treatments for the diabetic foot. We conclude that the practice of off-label prescribing has potential benefits. In some situations an off-label prescription is the only treatment available for patients, either because a more targeted drug does not exist, or because other methods of treatment are ineffective or unavailable due to patient intolerance.