Correlation between the level of bacterial load and clinical characteristics of the course of the disease in patients with neuroischaemic diabetic foot

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the clinical characteristics of the course of the disease in patients with neuroischaemic diabetic foot depending on the presence of bacterial monocultures and associations in wounds.

Material and methods. We have performed a comparative analysis of the parameters of the clinical course of the disease and the condition of patients’ wounds (n = 76) depending on the presence of monocultures (group 1, n = 32) and microbial associations (n = 42). The list of the compared parameters in the groups included the duration of diabetes, number of hospitalizations per year, achievement of target HbA1c levels (<7.5 %), condition of granulation tissue of wounds.

Results. With increased duration of the course of diabetes (from 5 to 15 years), higher number of hospitalizations per year, deteriorated carbohydrate metabolism (HbA1c> 7.5%) in combination with clinical signs of the initial stages of wound infection, the frequency rate of the detection of mixed bacterial cultures increased.

Conclusion. The work has found differences in the duration of the course of diabetes, the number of hospitalizations per year, local status of wounds in the patients, as well as the frequency of achieving the target levels of HbA1с <7.5 %, depending on the severity of microbial load.