Microbiological Profile of Diabetic Wound Infection

Introduction: Diabetic wound infections is a dreaded complication of diabetes and often the leading cause of hospitalization for patients with diabetes worldwide. Infection if not treated timely and properly can even lead to amputation of the infected part. The present study was conducted as an attempt to evaluate the different microorganisms infecting diabetic wounds and to find out the antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Material and Method: A total of 128 patients of diabetic wound infections were included in this study from September 2018 to August 2019. Samples were processed as per standard guidelines, the microorganisms (bacterial and fungal) were isolated and further antibiotic susceptibility pattern for bacterial isolates was studied. Results: Out of 128, 106 (82.82%) yielded growth of microorganisms on culture. Predominance of bacterial growths (73.58%) as a causative etiology in diabetic wound infections were noticed over fungal (26.42%). Gram positive bacterial growths accounted to 39.74%, whereas 60.27% were gram negative growths. Staphylococcus aureus (29.49%) was the most predominant organism isolated, followed by Escherichia coli (25.64%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (24.36%). of the Staphylococcus aureus, 73.92% were methicillin resistant while 72.34% among gram negative isolates were ESBL producers with Escherichia coli accounting the highest degree of ESBL production. Linezolid, vancomycinandteicoplanin were the most sensitive drugs for Staphylococcus aureus and Gram‑negative isolates were mostly sensitive to imipenem based on our susceptibility results. Candida species (89.28%) was noted to be the most dominant fungal pathogen in diabetic wound infections. Conclusion: A good knowledge about the microbiological profile of diabetic wound infections and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the isolates can be helpful in guiding the clinicians to promptly and effectively treat diabetic wound infections.