Abstract
Background and objectives: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the serious complications of diabetes, being related to frequent and long-term hospitalisation, reduced quality of life of the patient, amputations, a high rate of morbidity and mortality. The bacterial aetiology is complex, sometimes involving more than one pathogen, playing a major role in the infection prognosis and development of microbial resistance. This study evaluated the current state of the aetiology, clinical and pathological characteristics of DFU in a single diabetes centre in order to provide some specific measures to prevent it. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on patients with diabetes mellitus (252 individuals diagnosed with DFU) between January 2018–December 2019. All participants were assessed based on their clinical characteristics, including complications of diabetes and pathological and microbiological evaluations. Results: The present research revealed that diabetic foot ulcer prevalence was higher in males than in females and higher in type 2 diabetic patients than in type 1 diabetic patients. The patients with diabetic foot ulcer were older, had a higher body mass index (BMI), longer diabetic duration and had more diabetic complications, such as retinopathy, diabetic polyneuropathy and diabetic kidney disease, than patients without diabetic foot ulceration. Conclusions: Taking into account all factors involved, including the aetiology and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these isolates, planning the suitable treatment options of patients is possible.
Highlights
The incidence of diabetes is expected to increase rapidly—from 58 million cases in 2017 to a predicted value of 67 million cases by 2045 in Europe, especially in low- and middle-income countries, having an extremely strong cost impact on all public health systems [1]
In the group of patients with Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), the values of mean age, HbA1c and the duration of diabetes were higher compared with the control group (p < 0.01)
The complications of diabetes were more frequent in the DFU group
Summary
The incidence of diabetes is expected to increase rapidly—from 58 million cases in 2017 to a predicted value of 67 million cases by 2045 in Europe, especially in low- and middle-income countries, having an extremely strong cost impact on all public health systems [1]. Medicina 2020, 56, 380 ulceration of the foot associated with neuropathy and different grades of ischemia and infection. It is a late complication in patients with diabetes mellitus considered as a vascular complication, with a prevalence around 5.1% in Europe, but the highest prevalence (13%) has been described in North. Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the serious complications of diabetes, being related to frequent and long-term hospitalisation, reduced quality of life of the patient, amputations, a high rate of morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated the current state of the aetiology, clinical and pathological characteristics of DFU in a single diabetes centre in order to provide some specific measures to prevent it. Conclusions: Taking into account all factors involved, including the aetiology and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these isolates, planning the suitable treatment options of patients is possible
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