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Diabetic foot (DF) is one of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). Infrared thermography has been studied for its potential in early diagnosis and preventive measures against DF ulcers, although its role in the management and prevention of DF complications remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to determine the average temperatures of different points of the plantar foot using infrared thermography in patients with DM and history of DF (DFa group, at the highest risk of developing foot ulcers) and compare them to people without DM (NoDM group). One hundred and twenty-three feet were included, 63 of them belonged to DFa Group and the other 60 to NoDM Group. The average temperature in the NoDM Group was 27.4 (26.3-28.5) versus 28.6 (26.8-30.3) in the DFa Group ( p  = .002). There were differences between both groups in temperatures at the metatarsal heads and heels, but not in the arch. Average foot temperatures did not relate to sex, ankle-brachial index, and age, and had a mild correlation with daily temperature (Spearman 0.51, p  < .001). Data provided in our study could be useful in establishing a parameter of normal temperatures for high-risk patients. This could serve as a foundational framework for future research and provide reference values, not only for preventative purposes, as commonly addressed in most studies, but also to assess the applicability of thermography in clinical scenarios particularly when one foot cannot serve as a reference, suspected osteomyelitis of the remaining bone, or instances of increased temperature in specific areas which may necessitate adjustments to the insoles in secondary prevention., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Diabetic foot infections are related to severe complications and constitute the main reason for diabetes-related hospitalization and lower limb amputations. A diabetic foot infection requires prompt actions to avoid progression of the infected wound; a soft tissue sample has to be taken for microbiological culture and empiric antibiotic therapy must be started immediately. Empiric antibiotic schemes should be chosen based on the severity of the infection and the local prevalence of microbial causal agents. Therefore, it is important to monitor these indicators. The aim of this study was to determine which microorganisms were more prevalent in cultures of diabetic foot infections during 2018 and what antibiotic combination was better to cover local microbiology, compared with data available from 2015 for a similar cohort. A total of 68 positive cultures were obtained of 72 soft tissue specimens analyzed. The most frequent microorganisms were Gram negative (47.1%), and resulted significantly more frequent than in 2015 (24.6%) p = 0.01. These Gram negative germs also resulted more sensitive to ciprofloxacin than in 2015 (62.5% vs. 25.0%) p = 0.03. Amoxicillin-clavulanate plus ciprofloxacin was the optimal combination therapy in 2018, while in 2015 it was amoxicillin-clavulanate plus trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole. In agreement with these results, we recommend amoxicillin-clavulanate plus ciprofloxacin as the empiric antibiotic regimen of choice for soft tissue infections in diabetic foot. We consider surveillance of local microbiology to be an important tool in the management of diabetic foot infections.