New Treatment Guidelines for Foot Infections in People With Diabetes
Recommendations help clinicians improve patient care, reduce burden on health systems
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot today released new guidelines on preventing, diagnosing and treating foot infections in people who have diabetes. Foot infections are a common and significant complication for the half a billion people who live with diabetes worldwide. Up to one-third will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime, and more than half of individuals who undergo amputation because of foot infections stemming from diabetes die within five years.
“For people who have diabetes, foot infections can be devastating, but the worst effects can be prevented with timely diagnosis and treatment,” said Éric Senneville, MD, PhD, a specialist in infectious diseases at France’s Gustave Dron Hospital and lead author of the guidelines. “These new guidelines distill the latest global knowledge so health care professionals can provide patients with the best possible care.”
Developed by an international working group of clinical and scientific experts, the guidelines focus on:
• Diagnosing soft tissue and bone infection;
• Collecting and identifying microbiological samples;
• Choosing antimicrobial therapies and carrying out proper stewardship;
• Determining when and how to approach surgical treatment;
• Considerations for adjunctive therapies.
The new guidelines serve as an update to the guidelines previously published by IDSA and IWGDF on the topic. The guidelines are also part of a set of guidelines published by IWGDF on all aspects of the prevention and management of diabetes-related foot disease. The organizations will continue to monitor and incorporate new evidence as it emerges.
In addition to Dr. Senneville, guideline working group members include Zaina Albalawi, MD; Suzanne A. van Asten, MD, PhD; Zulfiqarali G. Abbas, MD; Geneve Allison, MD; Javier Aragón-Sánchez, MD; John M. Embil, MD; Lawrence A. Lavery, DPM; Majdi Alhasan, MD, FIDSA; Orhan Oz, MD, PhD; Ilker Uçkay, Prof. Dr. med.; Vilma Urbančič-Rovan, MD, PhD; Zhang-Rong Xu, MD; and Edgar JG Peters, MD, PhD.
About IDSA
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a community of more than 12,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases. Its purpose is to improve the health of individuals, communities and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases. Learn more at https://www.idsociety.org/.
The mission of the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) is to produce evidence-based guidelines to inform health care providers all over the world on strategies for the prevention and management of diabetic foot disease. The >150 multidisciplinary clinical and research experts from >60 countries that together form the IWGDF have been doing so since 1999, with updates every 4 years. Thus the IWGDF aims to reduce the high patient and societal burden of diabetic foot disease. Learn more at www.iwgdfguidelines.org