Infected bone resection plus adjuvant antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate versus infected bone resection alone in the treatment of diabetic forefoot osteomyelitis

Background Managing with diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) is challenging. Even after infective bone resection and thorough debridement, DFO is still difficult to cure and has a high recurrence rate. This retrospective study aims to compare the outcomes of two treatment methods, infected bone resection combined with adjuvant antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate and infected bone resection alone, for the treatment of diabetic foot osteomyelitis. Methods Between 2015 to 2017, 48 limbs (46 patients) with DFO met the criteria were included for assessment. 20 limbs (18 patients) were included in the calcium sulfate group (the CS group) in which vancomycin and/or gentamicin-impregnated calcium sulfate was used as an adjuvant after infected bone resection while 28 limbs (28 patients) as the control group were undergone infected bone resection only. Systemic antibiotics, postoperative wound care and offloading were continued to be applied following surgery in both groups. The time to healing, healing rate, recurrence rate and amputation rate were compared between the two groups. Results In total, 90% (18/20) limbs in the CS group as compared to 78.6% (22/28) infected limbs in the control group went to heal ( P = 0.513). The Mean time to healing was 13.3 weeks in the CS group and 11.2 weeks in control group ( P = 0.132). Osteomyelitis recurrence rate was 0% (0/18) in the CS group and 36.4% (8/22) in the control group ( P = 0.014). Postoperative leakage in calcium sulfate group was 30.0% (6/20) with a mean duration of 8.5 weeks. Amputation rate in the control group was 7.1% (2/28) compared to 0% (0/20) in the CS group ( P = 0.153). Conclusions Antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate as an adjuvant prevents the recurrence of DFO but cannot improve the healing rate, reduce the postoperative amputation rate or shorten the time to healing. Prolonged postoperative leakage as the most common complication can be managed with regular dressing. Level of Evidence III, Retrospective Comparative Study.