195: Diabetic Wound Cultures: From Chaos to Clarity in the Micro Lab

This week, Luis is joined by Dr. Christopher Doern from VCU Health to explore the complex world of diabetic wound cultures. How does diabetes impair wound healing—and what makes these infections so difficult to diagnose and treat? Dr. Doern dives into the microbiology behind diabetic foot wounds, highlighting the impact of bacterial diversity, specimen quality, and the limitations of traditional culture methods. He also shares best practices for workup strategies and antibiotic selection in these often polymicrobial infections. Link to studies mentioned in the episode: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28669650/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-481X.2011.00937.x https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/10/10/ofad495/7292955   Want to be added to Dr. Doern's email list? Reach out to [email protected]   Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected] Want to support the podcast? Here's how: Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro