Objective:

Using proper antibiotics in diabetic foot infections can save an extremity. The goal of this study was to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of the most frequent isolates from diabetic foot infections, to compare these results with those for species obtained from both intensive care unit and community-acquired infections, and to re-evaluate the empirical antimicrobial therapy in diabetic foot infections.

Material and Methods:

Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed on bacteria from diabetic foot cultures, ICU and community-acquired infections. Skin and soft tissue samples of a total of 181 patients have been studied. Sensitivity to ampicillin/ sulbactam (SAM), ciprofloxacin (CIP), piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP), cefoperazone/sulbactam (SCF), amikacin (AN), meropenem (MEM) and cefepime (FEP) has been investigated.

Results:

Among the samples, reproduction was detected in 154 (85%), 132 of which (79.5%) contained gram-negative bacteria (46 Enterobacter spp, 36 Pseudomonas spp, 30 Acinetobacter spp, 20 others).

Resistance of bacteria isolated from diabetic foot cultures was less than the one of bacteria isolated from ICU and more than the one from community-acquired infections. However, an increased resistance was detected to ciprofloxacin, frequently used in urinary infections, in agents from community-acquired infections.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, due to the risk of possible loss of tissue/extremity and possible antibiotic resistance, treatment should be started empirically and continued considering the culture results.

Keywords: Diabeticfootinfections, resistance, treatment