Antibiotic Therapy for
Diabetic Foot Infection
ACP Montana Chapter Scientific Meeting
September 29 2017
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Disclosure: none
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Mr. Jones is a pleasant gentleman
with type I diabetes mellitus, known
for peripheral vascular disease, who
comes to the clinic today to talk
about his left foot
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
I. In which diabetic patients with
a foot wound should I suspect
infection, and how should I
classify it?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Any foot wound!
Can present with typical signs of
inflammation, or can be subtle, such as
increased secretions, undermining
wound edges, foul odor
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Left foot peripheral pulses barely
palpable
No systemic toxicity
No fall odor
Cloudy drainage from ulcer
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Importantly, the IDSA classification has been
prospectively validated [13, 42, 43] as
predicting the need for hospitalization (in one
study, 0 for no infection, 4% for mild, 52% for
moderate, and 89% for severe infection) and
for limb amputation (3% for no infection, 3%
for mild, 46% for moderate, and 70% for
severe infection) [42].
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
• Severity of
infection:
mild to
moderate
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
II. How should I assess a diabetic patient presenting
with a foot infection?
6. We recommend assessing the affected limb and foot
for arterial ischemia (strong, moderate), venous
insufficiency, presence of protective sensation, and
biomechanical problems (strong, low).
7. Clinicians should debride any wound that has necrotic
tissue or surrounding callus; the required procedure may
range from minor to extensive (strong, low).
LET THE PROS HANDLE THIS!!!!
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
V. When and how should I obtain specimen(s) for
culture from a patient with a diabetic foot wound?
Recommendations
16. For clinically uninfected wounds, we
recommend not collecting a specimen for culture
(strong, low).
17. For infected wounds, we recommend that clinicians
send appropriately obtained specimens for culture prior
to starting empiric antibiotic therapy, if possible. Cultures
may be unnecessary for a mild infection in a patient who
has not recently received antibiotic therapy (strong, low).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
18. We recommend sending a specimen for culture
that is from deep tissue, obtained by biopsy or curettage
after the wound has been cleansed and debrided. We
suggest avoiding swab specimens, especially of
inadequately debrided wounds, as they provide less
accurate results (strong, moderate).
LET THE PROS HANDLE THIS!!!!
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
• Next step:
clean with
alcohol and
unroof lesion,
obtain deep
swab vs
empiric therapy
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
VI. How should I initially select, and when should I modify,
an antibiotic regimen for a diabetic foot infection?
Recommendations
19. We recommend that clinically uninfected wounds not be
treated with antibiotic therapy (strong, low).
20. We recommend prescribing antibiotic therapy for all infected
wounds, but caution that this is often insufficient unless combined
with appropriate wound care (strong, low).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
21. We recommend that clinicians select an empiric antibiotic regimen
on the basis of the severity of the infection and the likely etiologic
agent(s) (strong, low).
For mild to moderate infections in patients who have not recently received
antibiotic treatment, we suggest that therapy just targeting aerobic GPC is
sufficient (weak, low).
For most severe infections, we recommend starting broad-spectrum empiric
antibiotic therapy, pending culture results and antibiotic susceptibility data
(strong, low).
Empiric therapy directed at Pseudomonas aeruginosa is usually unnecessary
except for patients with risk factors for true infection with this organism
(strong, low).
Consider providing empiric therapy directed against methicillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a patient with a prior history of
MRSA infection; when the local prevalence of MRSA colonization or infection
is high; or if the infection is clinically severe (weak, low).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
23. We suggest basing the route of therapy largely on infection
severity. We prefer parenteral therapy for all severe, and some
moderate, DFIs, at least initially (weak, low), with a switch to oral
agents when the patient is systemically well and culture results
are available. Clinicians can probably use highly bioavailable oral
antibiotics alone in most mild, and in many moderate, infections
and topical therapy for selected mild superficial infections (strong,
moderate).
24. We suggest continuing antibiotic therapy until, but not
beyond, resolution of findings of infection, but not through
complete healing of the wound (weak, low). We suggest an initial
antibiotic course for a soft tissue infection of about 1–2 weeks for
mild infections and 2–3 weeks for moderate to severe infections
(weak, low).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
1 week later
Culture grew
mixed skin flora
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
2 weeks later
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
4 weeks later
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
VIII. How should I diagnose and treat osteomyelitis of the foot in
a patient with diabetes?
Recommendations
28. Clinicians should consider osteomyelitis as a potential
complication of any infected, deep, or large foot ulcer, especially one
that is chronic or overlies a bony prominence (strong, moderate).
29. We suggest doing a PTB test for any DFI with an open wound.
When properly conducted and interpreted, it can help to diagnose
(when the likelihood is high) or exclude (when the likelihood is low)
diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) (strong, moderate).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
31. For a diagnostic imaging test for DFO, we
recommend using MRI (strong, moderate).
However, MRI is not always necessary for
diagnosing or managing DFO (strong, low).
32. If MRI is unavailable or contraindicated,
clinicians might consider a leukocyte or
antigranulocyte scan, preferably combined with a
bone scan (weak, moderate). We do not
recommend any other type of nuclear medicine
investigations (weak, moderate).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
33. We suggest that the most definitive way to
diagnose DFO is by the combined findings on bone
culture and histology (strong, moderate). When bone
is debrided to treat osteomyelitis, we suggest
sending a sample for culture and histology (strong,
low).
34. For patients not undergoing bone debridement,
we suggest that clinicians consider obtaining a
diagnostic bone biopsy when faced with specific
circumstances, eg, diagnostic uncertainty,
inadequate culture information, failure of response to
empiric treatment (weak, low).
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
MRI suggestive of osteomyelitis
Patient admitted to the hospital for
surgery
Empiric antibiotic regimen?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Patient undergoes revision of
transmetatarsal amputation, with clean
bone margin, no residual osteomyelitis
Definitive therapy?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
2 days later
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
1 week later
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Patient admitted to the hospital for
surgery
Empiric antibiotic regimen?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Patient started on Unasyn
Patient undergoes revision amputation
of distal phalanx of right great toe
Definitive therapy?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Treatment?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
1 month later…
Acute onset of redness, pain
Admitted to the hospital with purulent
drainage
Empiric therapy?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
S/p partial 5th ray
amputation with
residual osteomyelitis
Therapy ?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
2 weeks later
Treatment?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Started on Vancomycin and Unasyn
Culture growing non-lactose
fermenting gram negative rods
ABX adjustments?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
PROCEDURES:
1. Revision partial forefoot amputation with
resection 4th toe and distal metatarsal and
plastic revision closure of wound
after debridement and copious irrigation.
2. Left foot ulcer site plastic revision closure
after debridement and lavage.
No residual bone infection
Treatment?
Antibiotic Therapy for Diabetic Foot Infection
Assess all diabetics for wound infection
Antibiotic therapy tailored to clinical
presentation
Assess for underlying osteomyelitis in case of
non-healing wound
Assess all patient for peripheral vascular
disease
