Bacterial Flora in Diabetic Ulcer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot infections are one of the most feared complications of diabetes. This study was undertaken to determine the common etiological agents of diabetic foot infections and their in vitro antibiotic susceptibility. METHODS: A prospective study was performed over a period of two years in a tertiary care hospital. The aerobic and anaerobic bacterial agents were isolated and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined. RESULTS: One hundred patients with Diabetic ulcer were studied, of which 65 were males and 35 were females. Majority of patients were in the age group of 51 to 60 years (37%) and polymicrobial etiology was 64 % and monomicrobial etiology was 36%. A total of 187 organisms were isolated of which 165 were aerobic and 22 were anaerobic. Most frequently isolated aerobic organisms were Pseudomonas Sp., Klebsiella Sp., E coli Sp., and Staphylococcus aureus. The common anaerobic organisms isolated were Peptostreptococcus Sp. And Bacterioids Sp. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of multi-drug resistant pathogens was observed. Amikacin, Imipenem were active against gram-negative bacilli, while vancomycin was found to be active against gram-positive bacteria.