(ii) The foot in systemic disease: management of the rheumatoid or diabetic patient

The foot is commonly affected in systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes mellitus. Treating patients who have foot pathology secondary to systemic diseases requires a multidisciplinary approach, following the principles that we outline in this article. There is very little high quality research in this field in the form of properly controlled clinical trials, and much of what we know owes a debt to the hard work and experience of key individuals and specialist centres.