Wound infections had increased the risk of amputations in Diabetic patients by 90 times. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has been a local deterrant to wound healing by its various properties of biofilm formation, increased virulence and multi drug resistance by various methods. Unfortunately, due to its resistance to first generation spectrum of antibiotics, and its gradual increase in resistance to third generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides etc, the need for alternative methodologies arise. Acetic acid helps in local control of the microbe by reducing the wound pH to acidic. This was an Open labelled prospective randomized control trial. Totally 80 patients with diabetic foot ulcers with culture proven Pseudomonas aeruginosa positive status were included, and non diabetic ulcers were excluded. Two groups based on simple randomization into test and control groups each containing 40 patients. The control group received traditional saline dressings. The test variables and the control variables were tabulated and compared using Chi square test. The efficacy of 3% Acetic acid in eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected diabetic ulcers was assessed. p<0.01 was considered to be statistically significant. At the end of the study, it was seen that there was complete eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 87.5% of the individuals in the test group and 62.5% of the individuals in the control group which was statistically significant (p = 0.009). Thus, in conclusion, Acetic-acid based dressings are effective for management of diabetic foot.

Keywords: Acetic acid; Pseudomonas; Dressing