Diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot infections.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 1. Foot infections in patients with diabetes cause substantial morbidity and frequent visits to health care professionals and may lead to amputation of a lower extremity. 2.

Long-term suppression of infection in total joint arthroplasty.

Optimal treatment for a chronic infected prosthesis is the removal of infected and necrotic tissue and all the components of the prosthesis with staged revision in conjunction with systemic antibiotics. If this is not possible because of the poor general condition of the patient, because of unacceptable functional results secondary to removal of the prosthesis, or because the patient refuses surgery in an attempt to salvage the infected prosthesis, a reasonable alternative is long-term oral suppressive antibiotic therapy for maintenance of a functioning prosthesis. Prompt recognition with rapid debridement and initiation of antibiotic therapy seems crucial.