Local Antibiotic Delivery Systems in the Surgical Treatment of Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: Again, No Benefit?

This retrospective study aimed to compare the outcomes and healing parameters of 3 groups of surgical treatment combined with and without local antibiotic administration in diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO). Overall, 25 patients with DFO who met the criteria were included in the study. Surgical debridement was used with systemic antibiotic administration alone (group A; n = 8) or combined with local application of antibiotic-loaded polymethylmethacrylate beads (group B; n = 9) or antibiotic-loaded hydroxyapatite and calcium sulfate beads (group C; n = 8). In total, 87.5% patients in group A, 100% in group B, and 87.5% in group C healed ( = .543). Median time to healing was 17 weeks in group A, 18 weeks in group B, and 19 weeks in group C ( = .094). One patient (12.5%) in group A was amputated. DFO recurrence rate was 12.5% in group A and 12.5% in group C ( = .543). Median hospitalization was 9 days in group A, 8 days in group B, and 9 days in group C ( = .081). In conclusion, adjunctive local antibiotic therapy was not shown to improve outcomes in surgically treated DFO.