Bacterial Etiology and Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Diabetic Foot Infection in Patients Admitted to Shiraz Hospitals, Iran

A common problem among diabetic patients is foot ulcers and infections, impacting up to 15% of diabetic patients over their lifetime. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of bacterial agents and their antimicrobial resistance pattern in patients with diabetic foot infection in Namazi and Shahid Faghihi hospitals in Shiraz.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Namazi and Shahid Faghihi hospitals in Shiraz. The collected samples were transferred to the laboratory for culture and biochemical tests. After accurate identification of bacterial agents, antibiotic susceptibility of all isolated bacteria was evaluated by disk diffusion method based on CLSI guidelines. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (Version 19).

In this study, 166 patients with diabetic foot ulcers were evaluated. The mean age of patients was 55.8± 13.2 years, and 109 (66.4%) cases were male. Also, 62% of patients had an underlying disease, while most of them had hypertension (27%). The most prevalent isolated bacterium was Staphylococcus epidermidis. The most effective antibiotics against isolated Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were vancomycin and amikacin, respectively.

  In this study, it was concluded that the frequency of Gram-negative bacteria in diabetic foot ulcer infections was higher than that of Gram-positive bacteria.