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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA
Published on: February 9, 2011
Risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in diabetic foot infections
Lawrence A Lavery1, Javier La Fontaine1, Kavita Bhavan2
1Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients hospitalized for diabetic foot infections.
Methods:
We reviewed hospital admissions for foot infections in patients with diabetes which had nasal swabs, and anaerobic and aerobic tissue cultures at the time of admission. Data collected included patient characteristics and medical history to determine risk factors for developing an MRSA infection in the foot.
Results:
The prevalence of MRSA in these infections was 29.8%. Risk factors for MRSA diabetic foot infections were history of MRSA foot infection, MRSA nasal colonization, and multidrug-resistant organisms (p<0.05). Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of nasal colonization with MRSA to identify MRSA diabetic foot infections were 66.7% and 80.0% (sensitivity 41%, specificity 90%). Admission from a nursing home was not a significant risk factor.
Conclusion:
Positive nasal swabs are not predictive of the infecting agent; however, a negative nasal swab rules out MRSA as the infecting agent in foot wounds with 90% accuracy.
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