Abstract

Aim:  Describe and characterize the microbiology of diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) in hospitalized patients of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in 2018.

Methods:  The local database of patients of the Diabetic Foot Unit was consulted to obtain the demographic data of hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of osteomyelitis in addition to the information system of the Microbiology division of the Clinical Laboratory to obtain data on species bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles isolated from the respective bone samples. With these data, a database for the project was built and the descriptive statistical analysis was carried out in Excel spreadsheets.

Results:  Enterococcus faecalis was the most frequently isolated agent (21%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (14%) of which 70% presented a methicillin resistance phenotype, and Escherichia coli as third place (11%). Other Gram negative bacilli occupied a fourth place, being Enterobacter cloacae (8%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (8%) the main isolated species; it should be noted the presence of 24% of strains carrying extended spectrum ẞ-lactamases, with K. pneumoniae as the main carrier species of this resistance. Conclusion: E. faecalis was reported for the first time as the most isolated bacterium in DFO, which allows to conclude that the microbiology of these conditions in Costa Rica differ from that reported in the international literature and it is necessary to update the Costa Rican medical community. It is also important to note that even though the percentage obtained from Gram negative rods carrying ESBL is lower than that reported in the literature, 100% of the K. pneumoniae strains were carriers of this resistance phenotype, therefore it is possible consider at the local level that the preliminary finding of this species should modify the therapeutic spectrum to be used pending final reports.

Keywords: Osteomyelitis; Diabetic Foot; Microbiology