The Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections

Foot ulcers and infection are the most common reasons for hospital admission for diabetic patients in the United States. Foot infection precedes more than 85 % of the more than 60,000 lower extremity amputations that are performed yearly in the United States alone on diabetics. The two-year mortality following transtibial amputation in diabetics has consistently been over 35 %. The goal of this chapter is to provide the reader a clinical algorithm for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot infection. When these decision-making tools are employed, morbidity, mortality, and rescue consumption can be greatly decreased in this highly morbid patient population.