Abstract:Objectie To investigate and analyze the clinical characteristics of inpatients with diabetic foot infection (DFI) and provide reference for effective clinical prevention and treatment of DFI.Methods The medical records of patients with diabetic foot infection who were admitted to the central hospital of enshi prefecture from January 2018 to December 2020,were retrospectively analyzed.According to Wagner classification,the DFI patients were divided into mild DFI group(41.44%) and severe DFI group(58.56%).Among the patients there were 245 males(67.68%) and 117 females(32.32%).Primary school and junior high school accounted for the highest proportion of education level (79.01%).Characteristics including patients basic data,wound microbiology information,therapies,outcomes,and health economics information were analyzed and compared between the two groups.Results There were statistically significant difference in gender distribution、BMI and peripheral vascular disease of patients of different groups(P<0.05).Diabetic foot infections were more common in the toes.There were 524 strains of microorganisms isolated from the 345 patients (95.31%),including Staphylococcus aureus (23.28%),Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.65%),and Klebsiella pneumoniae (11.45%).The severe DFI group had significantly higher ratios of polymicrobial bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria infections(P=0.032,P=0.015),and increased levels of white blood cell counts(WBC),neutrophils percentage (NEUT),procalcitonin (PCT),and C-reactive protein (CRP)(all P<0.05) when compared with the mild DFI group.248(68.51%)patients were treated by surgery.There were significant differences in ratios of recovery and amputation between severe DFI group and mild DFI group(P<0.05).The average hospitalization time of patients with DFI was 24 days with the average hospitalization cost of 34 250 yuan.There were statistically significant differences in the hospitalization time and hospitalization cost between severe DFI group and mild DFI group(P<0.05).Conclusion There are more male patients with DFI in the author’s unit.The high rate of complications,infection and amputation bring serious economic burden to the patients and the society.It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and health education of DFI.