Incidence of Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage in Patients With Diabetic Foot Wounds and Related Risk Factors

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we aimed to detect the incidence and risk factors of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage and possible relationship between wound culture and nasal carriage in patients with diabetic foot (DF) wounds. Methods: Three groups each one comprising 40 patients were established with nondiabetics (Group 1), diabetics without DF wounds (Group 2), and diabetics with DF wounds (Group 3). Wagner grading was used for classification of DF lesions. The incidence of S. aureus nasal carriage and effects of determined factors to nasal carriage were investigated. The relationship between nasal carriage and result of wound culture was also investigated in the last group. Results: The incidence of S. aureus nasal carriage were 17.5%, 20% and 10% in Groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively (p=0.47). Age, sex, use of insulin/oral anti-diabetic drugs, duration of diabetes, HbA1c level, fasting and after meal glucose measures did not affect the S. aureus nasal carriage. We observed a higher possibility of nasal swab positivity for MRSA in diabetic patients compared to the controls. We did not detect any relationship between Wagner grade and culture results of wounds and S. aureus nasal carriage in Group 3. Conclusions: We detected that having DF wound or diabetes did not alter the risk of S. aureus nasal carriage, and likewise nasal carriage did not affect the results of wound cultures. Klimik Dergisi 2015; 28(3): 112-6.