Use of Oral Antibiotics for Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: A Systematic Review

The optimal treatment modality for diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) remains unclear. The current guidelines from Diabetes Canada recommend the use of oral antibiotics and/or intravenous antibiotics with no preferred agent or route of administration. This report aimed to evaluate the current evidence surrounding oral antibiotic therapy for DFO. Embase and MEDLINE databases were searched for original articles written in English that reported efficacy and safety data on oral antibiotic use for this indication. Twenty-six unique studies were included, encompassing 972 patients treated with oral antibiotics. The mean age was 64.6 years (range: 30 to 90 y). When used as monotherapy, the complete resolution and partial resolution rate for oral antibiotic therapy were 75.2% (539/717) and 3.2% (23/717), respectively. When used as a step-down therapy after intravenous antibiotics, the complete and partial resolution rate for oral antibiotics were 56.5% (155/255) and 20.4% (52/255), respectively. No resolution of DFO resulting in refractory infection or amputation was observed in 155 (21.6%) cases of oral antibiotics monotherapy and 59 (23.1%) of step-down therapy. Recurrence rates for oral antibiotics monotherapy and step-down therapy were 5.4% (39/717) and 3.9% (10/255), respectively. Oral antibiotic therapy demonstrates favorable outcomes in DFO comparable to intravenous treatment. Oral antibiotic therapy may be especially useful in low-resource settings where hospital beds are limited and in situations where patients require ambulation. Nonetheless, patients should be counselled on the vital importance of adherence, and resource stewardship should be practiced by health care providers to avoid antibiotic resistance. GENERAL PURPOSE: To present a systematic review article evaluating the utility of oral antibiotics for the treatment of diabetic foot osteomyelitis. JOURNAL/aswca/04.03/00129334-202511000-00004/figure1/v/2025-11-11T122732Z/r/image-jpeg TARGET AUDIENCE: This continuing education activity is intended for physicians; physician assistants; nurse practitioners; podiatrists/other foot specialists; and registered nurses with an interest in skin, wound, and diabetic foot care. LEARNING OBJECTIVES/OUTCOMES: After completing this continuing education activity, the participant should be better able to: Summarize the evidence the authors considered when evaluating the utility of oral antibiotics for diabetic foot osteomyelitis.Select the characteristics of the participants and settings in which oral antibiotic therapy was utilized.Identify the results of the authors' study assessing the use of oral antibiotics.Discuss potential situations in which oral antibiotic therapy may provide favorable outcomes as monotherapy or in conjunction with intravenous antibiotics for diabetic foot osteomyelitis.