Diabetic foot ulcers in Cameroon: can microflora prevalence inform probabilistic antibiotic treatment?

To determine the clinical features, regularly associated microorganisms and their susceptibility to antibiotics, and the clinical outcomes of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes at the Yaoundé Central Hospital, Cameroon.

A retrospective analysis of routinely collected hospital data, and data validation by survey of clinical notes was conducted from November 1999 to October 2002 for adult diabetic patients with foot ulcers. Clinical data were recorded for each patient, followed by a record of microbiological investigations where available.

Of 503 patients with diabetes admitted during the study period, 54 (10.7%) had foot ulcers. Male subject represented 66.7% of this population. The mean age of the study population was 59.66 +/- 1.52 years. The foot ulcer led to the diagnosis of diabetes in six patients in whom the condition was previously unidentified. Of the 54 patients with foot ulcers, nine (16.7%) were selected for surgery and the remaining 45 were managed conservatively. Microbiological investigations were available for 21 patients. Proteus mirabilis was the most frequent microorganism yielded, and was regularly associated with Staphylococcus aureus. All the microorganisms isolated showed high sensitivity to second-generation quinolone antibiotics and were regularly sensitive to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Nine (16.7%) patients died and seven (13%) were discharged at their own request.

The mortality rate among our diabetic patients with foot ulcers is high and the combination of second-generation quinolone and aminoglycoside antibiotics can be proposed as a probabilistic antibiotic approach to treating foot infection.