From 1968 to 1978 we performed twenty partial and eleven total
calcanectomies in twenty-nine patients, eighteen of whom were diabetics
with ulcerations of the heel. All but two had osteomyelitis of the
calcaneus. Eight of the patients had an injury of the spine. The remaining
patients had conditions in which sensation in the heel was absent or
decreased. In about one-half of the diabetic patients, immediate failure of
the procedure led to amputation. Primary wound-healing occurred in only
four of the eighteen diabetics, but in the non-diabetic patients ten of the
thirteen heels showed primary healing. Late failure also occurred in three
diabetic patients. The overall rate of failure in the diabetics was
65%.