CASE REPORT Case report on the Use of a Honey on Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients Suriadi 1,2* , Rhamdaniyati 1 , Wuriani Sudirjo 1 , Sukarni Ali 2 , Arina Nurpiyanti 2 , Tutur Kardiatun 1 ,Cau Kim Jiu 1 1 The Institute of Nursing Muhammadiyah, Pontianak, Indonesia 2 School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tanjungpura (Received: November 2017/ Revised: December 2017/ Accepted: December 2017) Abstract This article describes four infected diabetic foot ulcer patients who were treated with honey dressing as fragmented therapy. Quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the ulcer-healing process were documented. All four ulcers showed positive wound contraction and reduction in size, and clinical signs of infection were absent at the end of the follow-up period. Moreover, surrounding skin maceration and trauma were absent in all wounds. Adequate moisture control was also achieved, evidenced by a healthy red granulating base and a thin layer of clear light exudate in all fours cases. These reports provide little evidence that the use of honey dressing is effective in combating wound infection. Honey dressing can be used to improve wound healing in chronic diabetic foot ulcers. Keywords: Diabetic foot ulcer; honey Introduction The number of people suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM) in Asia more than doubled from 62 to 132 million between 2000 and 2010 (Tong, 2009). According to a study on the prevalence of diabetes, Indonesia ranks fifth highest, with 7.6 million patients, despite a relatively low prevalence of the disease in 2012 (Soewondo, Ferrario, & Tahapary, 2013). Forty-eight percent of the patients aged 20–79 years have type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Two regions with the highest prevalence of diabetes in Indonesia are Ternate, a small remote island in Eastern Indonesia, in which a prevalence of 19.6% was reported in the suburban population, and the province of West Kalimantan (Soewondo, Ferrario, & Tahapary, 2013). People with DM are susceptible to the development of foot and plantar ulcerations. Such incidences have been attributed to a triad of factors, namely, the presence of sensory neuropathy, ischemia, and an elevated plantar loading pressure (Tong, 2009). Foot ulcers and amputations are major causes of morbidity, disability and emotional and physical costs for people with DM. Many nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and other costly medical treatments for chronic wounds have been attributed to the incidence of diabetic foot ulcers. When the ulcers are infected, cellulitis and osteomyelitis can quickly develop (Shojaiefard, Khorgami, & Larijani, 2008). Therefore, it is of paramount importance that any apparent local wound infection should be treated early and aggressively. The use of honey dressing for local wound infection may be effective because honey has been shown to have wound healing effects (Shojaiefard, Khorgami, & Larijani, 2008). Honey is produced from many different floral sources, and its antibacterial activity varies depending on origin and processing. Different *Corresponding author’s e-mail: suriadif@yahoo.com.au (2018) 1 : 98-105 IJINNA (2018) 1 : 98-104