Cultura

Occupational Medicine And Health Security: Advancing Health Protection In The Workplace

VOLUME 22, 2025

The Role of Targeted Infra-popliteal Endovascular Angioplasty to Treat Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using the Angiosome Model: A Systematic Review

VOLUME 6, 2023

Ibrahim Ali Alshehri, Abdulkarim Amer Alshehri, Naif Dhafer Alahmari, Zainab Owaidh Alotaibi, Banadr Khalid Almohammadi
Meshari Abdullah Al-Ahmadi, Muath Saud Alharbi, Samah Duhays Aldhubayti, Bashayr Amsaifar Almutairi, Dr. Turki Mohammad Alaskar

Abstract

Occupational medicine and health security have increasingly converged as complementary frameworks for protecting worker health and ensuring organizational and societal resilience in the face of evolving occupational and public health threats. While occupational medicine traditionally focuses on the prevention, early detection, and management of work-related diseases and injuries, health security emphasizes preparedness, surveillance, and response to large-scale health risks such as infectious disease outbreaks, chemical incidents, and environmental emergencies. This article examines the conceptual and practical integration of occupational medicine and health security as a comprehensive approach to advancing health protection in modern workplaces.

Using an evidence-based narrative review of international guidelines, policy frameworks, and peer-reviewed literature, the article explores major occupational health hazards, delineates the distinct and overlapping roles of occupational medicine and health security, and proposes an integrated model that links clinical surveillance with system-level preparedness and response. Sector-specific applications across healthcare, industrial, construction, energy, and essential service settings are discussed, highlighting how integrated approaches enhance workforce protection and operational continuity. The analysis further addresses policy, ethical, and regulatory considerations, as well as organizational performance implications, including productivity, cost containment, resilience, and workforce sustainability.

The findings suggest that integrating occupational medicine with health security transforms workplace health protection from a reactive, compliance-driven function into a proactive, strategic system. Such integration strengthens early warning capacity, improves crisis response, and supports national health security objectives. The article concludes that embedding integrated occupational health and health security frameworks within organizational and public health systems is essential for safeguarding workers, sustaining essential services, and addressing future health challenges.

Keywords : Occupational medicine; Health security; Workplace health; Occupational health hazards; Organizational resilience; Public health preparedness.
Erin Saricilar
Lecture in accounting. University of Basrah, College of Administration and Economics, Department of Accounting.

Abstract

Atherosclerotic disease significantly impacts patients with type 2 diabetes, who often present with recalcitrant peripheral ulcers. The angiosome model of the foot presents an opportunity to perform direct angiosome-targeted endovascular interventions to maximise both wound healing and limb salvage. A systematic review was performed, with 17 studies included in the final review. Below-the-knee endovascular interventions present significant technical challenges, with technical success depending on the length of lesion being treated and the number of angiosomes that require treatment. Wound healing was significantly improved with direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty, as was limb salvage, with a significant increase in survival without major amputation. Indirect angioplasty, where the intervention is applied to collateral vessels to the angiosomes, yielded similar results to direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty. Applying the angiosome model of the foot in direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty improves outcomes for patients with recalcitrant diabetic foot ulcers in terms of primary wound healing, mean time for complete wound healing and major amputation-free survival.
Keywords : Diabetic foot ulcer, angiosome, angioplasty