title: Clinical characteristics of diabetic patients with serious pedal infections.
abstract: The clinical characteristics of 55 diabetic patients referred for treatment of serious pedal infections were surveyed. These patients had been infected for 22.5 +/- 5.0 weeks prior to referral. A majority had received therapy with oral antibiotics and approximately one third had received no antibiotic therapy. The average age of the patients was 53.5 years; average duration of disease, 18 years; and mean weight, 135% of ideal. All had poor glycemic control, as judged by hemoglobin A1c determinations. The patients had a high prevalence of diabetic complications, particularly peripheral neuropathy and nephropathy. Approximately 69% were hypertensive. Although their corrected ESRs were elevated, mean total WBC counts were not. A majority of the patients had zinc deficiency. Most of their infections involved multiple organisms, particularly staphylococcus species, enterococcus, and gram-negative aerobes. These observations suggest that the clinical characteristics of these patients in part explain the difficult nature of their infections and argue the need for early, aggressive antibiotic therapy.
authors.affiliation: Humana Diabetes Center, Lexington, KY 40509.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Leichter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allweiss
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harley
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clay
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuperstein-Chase
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolkin
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005534:Foot Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents