Culture of percutaneous bone biopsy specimens for diagnosis of diabetic foot osteomyelitis: concordance with ulcer swab cultures.

Background: We assessed the diagnostic value of swab cultures by comparing them with corresponding cultures of percutaneous bone biopsy specimens for patients with diabetic foot osteomyelitis.

Methods: The medical charts of patients with foot osteomyelitis who underwent a surgical percutaneous bone biopsy between January 1996 and June 2004 in a single diabetic foot clinic were reviewed. Seventy-six patients with 81 episodes of foot osteomyelitis who had positive results of culture of bone biopsy specimens and who had received no antibiotic therapy for at least 4 weeks before biopsy constituted the study population.