Diabetic Foot Infections. Case Series

Abstract

Background: The main purpose of the study is to describe the clinical characteristics, microorganisms isolated in specimens taken in the operating room, types of surgical procedures, and outcomes in treatments performed on patients with diabetic foot.
Methods: A case series study is presented, describing results obtained from cultures taken in surgery, clinical characteristics according to Wagner’s classification, and number and type of procedures performed between January 2012 and December 2016 due to complications derived from diabetic foot.
Results: The study included 58 patients, with a mean age of 65 years, and 69% were men. The clinical stage in the pre-surgical evaluation was 39.7% and 37.9% Wagner III and IV, respectively, and during the operation it was 32.8% III, 50% IV. The isolated micro-organisms were 15.5% Escherichia Coli, of these 11.9% were ESBL positive and 3.6% multisensitive. Another 15.5% were Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, multiresistant variants 10.7%, producing carbapenemases 1.2%, resistant to meropenem 1.2%, and multiple sensitivity 2.4%. The large majority (77.5%) of the patients required a change of antibiotic. One third of the patients required major amputations, of which 46.6% had infections caused by multidrug-resistant germs.
Discussion: The predominant micro-organisms found were multi-resistant gram negative bacilli. It is suggested taking specimens intraoperative prior to the start of antibiotic therapy. Given the bacterial flora isolated in this series, when starting empirical antibiotic therapy, the use of carbapenems is suggested.
Evidence Level: IV