Remission in diabetic foot infections: Duration of antibiotic therapy and other possible associated factors

AIM: To determine the most appropriate duration of antibiotic therapy for diabetic foot infections (DFIs). METHODS: Using a clinical pathway for adult patients with DFIs (retrospective cohort analysis), we created a cluster-controlled Cox regression model to assess factors related to remission of infection, emphasizing antibiotic-related variables. We excluded total amputations as a result of DFI and DFI episodes with a follow-up time of 3 weeks versus 1 week versus 3 weeks overall and 0.6 (95% CI 0.2-1.3) for osteomyelitis cases only. Plotting of duration of antibiotic therapy failed to identify any optimal threshold for preventing recurrences. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis found no threshold for the optimal duration or route of administration of antibiotic therapy to prevent recurrences of DFI. These limited data might support possibly shorter treatment duration for patients with DFI.