Description: This publication reports a multicenter observational study of 418 adults with diabetes and a recently healed diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) that examined whether transepidermal water loss (TEWL), a measure of skin barrier function, predicts ulcer recurrence. The study found that participants with higher TEWL at the site of wound closure were significantly more likely to experience DFU recurrence within 16 weeks; those with TEWL above 30.05 g·m−2·h−1 had about 2.66 times higher odds of recurrence than those with lower TEWL. The authors conclude that a wound may appear structurally closed without being functionally healed, and that TEWL could serve as a practical point-of-care biomarker to identify patients at higher risk of recurrence and guide follow-up care.

Citation: Gauvin, N., Wayne, B., Mathew-Steiner, S.S., Jones, T.L.Z., Pop-Busui, R., Spino, C., Maturo, F., Schmidt, B.M., Holmes, C., Sen, C.K., Semere, W. (2026). Partnering with Communities to Improve Diabetic Foot Ulcer Care in High-Risk Populations. Advances in Wound Care, 15(7): 481-486. DOI: 10.1177/21621918261440435