Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections: A Prospective Study Highlighting the Efficacy and Safety of Moxifloxacin

Abstract

Background: Foot infection involving the skin, soft tissues and bony structures, is a common complication of foot ulcers in diabetic individuals and represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Systemic antibiotic treatment must be given as early as possible initially on empirical basis and based on the response to empirical therapy and wound culture and sensitivity results, definitive therapy should be decided. This study was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of moxifloxacin for treating diabetic foot infections in Pakistani population.

Methods: After taking ethical approval, an interventional phase IV study was conducted in the department of medicine and diabetic clinic, Liaquat University Hospital, Jamshoro, Hyderabad from March 2017 till August 2017. A total of 75 patients with diabetic foot infection who were sensitive to moxifloxacin on culture and sensitivity were included in the study using non-probability convenient sampling technique. All the demographic and clinical information was collected by using a questionnaire specially designed for the study. After making clinical assessment, all the patients were treated with sequential intravenous/oral moxifloxacin for 14 days. Bacteriologic response was based on the results of cultures of specimens of infected skin or soft tissue or blood. The data were analyzed on SPSS version 20.0. Chi-square test was used with significant level set at 0.05.

Results: The study results revealed that the majority of patients with diabetic foot ulcer were males with the age of greater than 45 years. Only 21.3% of them had a comorbidity, either hypertension alone or hypertension with ischemic heart disease, whereas 84% of them reported their foot ulcers to be cured at the end of treatment. Furthermore, only younger age was found to have a significant positive association with healing of foot ulcers.

Conclusions: Moxifloxacin is effective in treating diabetic foot infections and 84% of the diabetic patients in the present study reported the healing of foot ulcers as a result of a 2-week moxifloxacin treatment. Further evaluation of the role of moxifloxacin in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer is recommended.




J Endocrinol Metab. 2018;8(2-3):32-36
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem485w