Rationale and Comments

Uninfected wounds are contaminated with surface flora and will yield false positive culture results. Furthermore, wounds that are not clinically infected do not require antibiotics, and the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics may have harmful side effects and lead to further antibiotic resistance.

Sponsoring Organizations

• American Podiatric Medical Association

Sources

• IDSA guideline

Disciplines

• Dermatologic
• Infectious disease

References

• Lipsky BA, et al. 2012 Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic foot infections. CID. 2012;54:132.