A prospective observational study of drug prescription pattern of antibiotics in diabetic foot ulcer in tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Background: Our aim was to study a prescribing pattern of antibiotics used in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU).Methods: 50 patients were selected by inclusion and exclusion criteria basis. It was a prospective observational study conducted in Department of Surgery, Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital (RMMCH), Annamalai University.Results: This study reveals that male patients 60% are more prone to develop diabetic foot ulcer than the female patients 40%. Patients of 50 to 60 age group 32% has higher prevalence of DFU. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics are metronidazole 48% and cefotaxime 48% followed by piperacillin and tazobactam combination 30%, ciprofloxacin 20%, linezolid 18%, amoxicillin and clavulanic acid combination 12%, cefixime 6%, clindamycin 4%, amikacin 4%, faropenam 4%, ceftriaxone 2%, amoxicillin 2%, gentamicin 2%, cefoperazone sodium and sulbactam combination 2%.Conclusions: Lack of antibiotic sensitivity test leads to growth of organism, wrong antibiotic selection and irrational use of antibiotics. And also observed patient developed resistance to linezolid antibiotic when used as a first choice of drug to treat diabetic foot infection including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infected patients.