Table 2. Summary of the guidelines included in the study.

	Guideline – DOI/URL	Key Results
1 and 2	2004 Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections and 2012 Infectious Diseases Society of America Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetic Foot Infections – Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), https://doi.org/10.1086/424846 and https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cis346	•   Most of the diabetic foot infections (DFIs) can be cured with proper management.     •   DFI should be defined by presence of inflammation or purulence.     •   DFI should be classified based on severity.     •   Clinical decisions should be made based on definition and severity of DFI.     •   Staphylococci are the most common cause of DFI.     •   Definitive antibiotic therapy should be based on cultures of infected diabetic wound.     •   Imaging is recommended to detect osteomyelitis.     •   Surgery and wound care may be needed in successful cure of DFI.     •   Patients with DFIs should be evaluated for an ischemic foot.     •   Multidisciplinary approach should be employed.
3	2010 (updated 2017) Management of diabetes: A national clinical guideline - Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, https://www.sign.ac.uk/assets/sign116.pdf	•   Patients with active diabetic foot disease should be referred to a multidisciplinary diabetic foot care service.     •   Treatment of a patient with an infected diabetic foot ulcer and/or osteomyelitis should be commenced immediately with an antibiotic in accordance with local or national protocols. Subsequent antibiotic regimens may be modified with reference to bacteriology and clinical response.
4	2012 A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions in the management of infection in the diabetic foot – International Working group on the Diabetic Foot, https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.2247	•   There was no better response with any particular antibiotic regimen.     •   No particular route of delivery or duration of treatment was found to be superior.     •   Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was not useful.
5	2012 Australian Diabetes Foot Network: management of diabetes-related foot ulceration — a clinical update, https://doi.org/10.5694/mja11.10347	•   Appropriate assessment and management of diabetes-related foot ulcers (DRFUs) is essential to reduce amputation risk.     •   Management requires debridement, wound dressing, pressure off-loading, good glycemic control and potentially antibiotic therapy and vascular intervention.     •   As a minimum, all DRFUs should be managed by a doctor and a podiatrist and/or wound care nurse.     •   Health professionals unable to provide appropriate care for people with DRFUs should promptly refer individuals to professionals with the requisite knowledge and skills.     •   Indicators for immediate referral to an emergency department or multidisciplinary foot care team (MFCT) include gangrene, limb-threatening ischemia, deep ulcers (bone, joint or tendon in the wound base), ascending cellulitis, systemic symptoms of infection and abscesses.     •   Referral to an MFCT should occur if there is lack of wound progress after 4 weeks of appropriate treatment.
6	2013 Guidelines for treatment of patients with diabetes and infected ulcers – Mansilha and Brandão, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23443604	•   Diabetic foot infections can be classified in mild, moderate and severe according to local and systemic signs.     •   Their identification should lead to a prompt and systematic evaluation and treatment, ideally performed by a multidisciplinary team.     •   Decisions concerning empirical initial antibiotic agent(s), desirable route of administration, duration and need of hospitalization should be based on the more likely involved pathogen(s), the severity of the infection, the ulcer chronicity and the presence of significant ischemia.     •   Wound cultures, ideally from ulcer tissue, are strongly advisable and can help guiding and narrowing the antibiotic spectrum.     •   Appropriate wound care and off-loading should not be neglected.     •   When revascularization is required, the correct timing can be crucial for limb salvage.     •   Since the recurrence of ulcer and infection is high, the implementation of appropriate preventive measures can be critical.     •   Ultimately, the definitive goal in the treatment of diabetic foot infections is to prevent the amputation catastrophe.
7	2013 (updated 2018) Foot Care - Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committee, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2017.10.020	•   People with diabetes who develop a foot ulcer or show signs of infection even in the absence of pain should be treated promptly by an interprofessional health-care team when available with expertise in the treatment of foot ulcers to prevent recurrent foot ulcers and amputation.     •   There is insufficient evidence to recommend any specific dressing type for typical diabetic foot ulcers.     •   Debridement of nonviable tissue and general principles of wound care include the provision of a physiologically moist wound environment and off-loading the ulcer.     •   There is insufficient evidence to recommend the routine use of adjunctive wound-healing therapies (e.g. topical growth factors, granulocyte colony-stimulating factors or dermal substitutes) for typical diabetic foot ulcers. Provided that all other modifiable factors (e.g. pressure off-loading, infection, foot deformity) have been addressed, adjunctive wound-healing therapies may be considered for nonhealing, nonischemic wounds.
8	2013 Best practice guidelines: Wound management in diabetic foot ulcers - Wounds International, https://www.woundsinternational.com/download/ resource/5958	•   Management of an infected diabetic ulcer should be aimed at preventing life- or limb- threatening complications     •   For superficial (mild) infections — treat with systemic antibiotics and consider topical antimicrobials in selected cases     •   For deep (moderate or severe) infections — treat with appropriately selected empiric systemic antibiotics, modified by the results of culture and sensitivity reports     •   Offload pressure correctly and optimize glycemic control for diabetes management     •   Consider therapy directed at biofilm in wounds that are slow to heal