Diabetic foot infection: a critical review of recent randomized clinical trials on antibiotic therapy

Controlled clinical trials are essential tools for evaluating the efficacy of antibiotic treatment against infection, but the results of such trials critically depend on sensitive, reproducible, and feasible outcome measures. We reviewed randomized controlled trials on the antibiotic treatment of diabetic foot infection published between 1999 and 2009 in terms of quality and endpoints. Discrepancies in study design, inclusion criteria, statistical methodology, and the varying definitions of both clinical and microbiological endpoints between the published studies, make it difficult to compare them, as well as to determine which regimen may be the most appropriate for patients with diabetic foot infection. (C) 2011 International Society for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.