Nutritional Interventions May Improve Outcomes of Patients Operated on for Diabetic Foot Infections: A Single-Center Case-Control Study
Table 1
Characteristics of 1,013 patients operated on for diabetic foot infections.
Remission
Clinical failure
Characteristic ()
(75%)
(25%)
value
Male sex
203 (80%)
591 (78%)
0.58
Median age
65 years
68 years
0.09
Insulin therapy
561 (74%)
197 (75%)
0.69
Diabetic foot osteomyelitis present
213 (84%)
669 (88%)
0.06
Undergoing renal dialysis
63 (8%)
22 (9%)
0.88
Congestive heart failure
174 (23%)
83 (33%)
0.01
Moderate to severe limb ischemia
559 (74%)
205 (80%)
0.03
Active tobacco smoker
445 (59%)
162 (64%)
0.17
Number of surgical debridement (median)
1
1
0.01
Duration of antibiotic therapy (median)
20 days
30 days
0.01
Parenteral route of therapy (median)
4 days
7 days
0.01
Nutritional assessments on admission
Median NRS-Score
2 points
3 points
0.82
Median weight
87 kg
86 kg
0.75
Median body mass index
28.7 kg/m2
29.5 kg/m2
0.46
Reported weight loss
54 (7%)
20 (8%)
0.70
Median weight loss in the last 2 months
5 kg
5 kg
0.84
Median serum albumin level+
39 mg/L
31 mg/L
0.02
Regular alcohol consumption
173 (23%)
70 (27%)
0.13
Nutrition interventions during hospitalization
At least one nutritionist’s counselling
142 (19%)
49 (19%)
0.87
Overall number of nutritionists’ interventions
1
1
0.80
Supplementation with vitamins
190 (25%)
61 (24%)
0.71
Pearson test or Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Significant results () are in bold. += more likely to be influenced by the presence of infection rather than the nutrition level; NRS = Nutritional Risk Screening Score 2002.
