Bacteriological study of diabetic foot ulcers

ABSTRACT

Bacteriological study of 61 patients with diabetic gangrene of non-gangrenous foot ulcers was undertaken to determine the pattern of infection and antimicrobial susceptibility with a view to suggest optimal antibiotic therapy for these patients. Grangrenous ulcers showed a higher frequency of mixed infection the predominant organisms being enterococci, Proteus sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Klebsiella sp. Infected nongrangrenous ulcers showed Staph. pyogenes, and beta haemolytis Streptococcus as single organism in 12 patients. Anaerobes were more frequent isolated in gangrenous lesions than in non-gangrenous ulcers. Antimicrobial susceptibility showed that gram positive organisms were sensitive to co-trimoxazole, cephaloridine, ampicillin and penicillin. Gram negative aerobic bacilli were sensitive to gentomycin, chloramphenicol, cotrimoxazole and streptomycin. Anaerobes were sensitive to chloramphenicol, clindamycin and metronidazole. Antibiotics of choice for gangrenous lesions with spreading infection and septicaemia are a combination of gentamycin, ampicillin and metronidazole as an adjuvant to surgical treatment. (AU)