Might you have experience with Diabetic Osteomyelitis?

[Butterscotc]

Hi there. I hope you all may be able to please shed some light on a diagnosis for my husband who burned both feet early this year. He was doing fine until last week. I took him to the hospital and they are saying he has Osteomyelitis in one of his feet. The doctors are recommending amputation. We would greatly appreciate your insight, please. Blessings and kind thanks.

[MichaelJH]

Hello.. Apologies for the late reply - I am not on this forum very often but my initial reply has vanished!

Firstly Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone. Whilst PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease), diabetes and smoking make it more likely there is no Diabetic variant!

Treatment is notoriously difficult. Have they tried specialist antibiotics? Amputation, whatever the undying cause, should be a last resort but seems somewhat of a preferred option in the UK compared to the rest of Western Europe.

My own interest is that I am coming into the 17th week of having a wound on my stump and do wonder if Osteomyelitis may be present?

May I ask if the injuries occurred getting into a hot bath?

All the best, Michael

[gangadharan_nair]

"Diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) is mostly the consequence of a soft tissue infection that spreads into the bone, involving the cortex first and then the marrow. The possible bone involvement should be suspected in all DFUs patients with infection clinical findings, in chronic wounds and in case of ulcer recurrence."(1)

"Diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) is the most frequent infection associated with diabetic foot ulcers, occurs in >20% of moderate infections and 50%–60% of severe infections, and is associated with high rates of amputation."(2)

"Foot infections are among the most common and serious complications of diabetes mellitus. They are associated with increased frequency and length of hospitalization and risk of lower extremity amputation. Foot ulceration and infection are the leading risk factors for amputation."(3)

Links:-

(1) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

(2) dovepress.com/optimal-manag...

(3) aafp.org/afp/2008/0701/p71....