COMPARATIVE ACCURACY OF SUPERFICIAL SWAB CULTURE VERSUS DEEP TISSUE CULTURE IN DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS OF VARYING DEPTH AND SEVERITY

Abstract

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) affect approximately 15% of people with diabetes and are a leading cause of hospitalisation and lower-limb amputation. Accurate microbiological diagnosis is essential to guide antibiotic therapy, and the sampling technique strongly influences the organisms recovered. Methods: In this comparative analytical study, 30 patients (aged 40–65 years, both sexes) with DFUs underwent paired sampling by superficial swab and deep tissue (wound-debris) culture. Specimens were cultured on blood agar base and Sabouraud dextrose agar media, and isolates identified by Gram staining. Results: Deep tissue culture recovered more isolates than superficial swab across all categories; a total of 52 microbial strains were reported from the 30 wounds, with deep tissue yielding more pathogens (28 vs 14) and more fungal isolates (3 vs 1). Only the differences in total pathogen count and fungal isolation reached the reported significance threshold. Conclusion: Deep tissue culture appears to recover more organisms than superficial swab and may better reflect the true wound microbiota; the reported analysis requires methodological correction and verification of counts before definitive conclusions are drawn.