Table 2 List of prospectively assessed variables during both randomized trials

− Patient’s general descriptive characteristics: birth date, age, sex, hospitalization number, pertinent actual and past comorbidities, current medication, ischemia, coronary heart disease, depression, stroke, heart insufficiency, duration of diabetes, glycated hemoglobin, insulin therapy, creatinine clearance, dialysis, hypertonia, statin use, anticoagulation, smoking habits, alcohol intake, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, Frailty Score according to Fried, patient nutritional status

− General diabetic foot problems: type and duration of presurgical antibiotic therapy, presurgical hospitalizations, presurgical microbiological results including antibiotic susceptibility profiles, presurgical podiatric care, anatomical localization of infection, type and side of foot problem, past amputations, past foot surgery, presence and type of osteosynthesis material in the foot, PEDIS Score, Wound Score and localization, Charcot foot, transcutaneous oxygen tensions, peripheral arterial disease staging, ankle-brachial index, angioplasty, x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and other radiological results of the foot, number and type of surgeries for the actual problem

− Diabetic foot infection: presence of soft tissue infection, osteomyelitis, bacteremia, iterative serum C-reactive peptide levels, fever, pathogens and antibiotic susceptibility profiles

− Treatment variables: number and type of surgeries, amputation techniques, type of dressings, number and types of intraoperative samples, and duration, type, numbers and administration route of all antimicrobials, infectiology consultations, other medical, physiotherapeutic, ergotherapeutic, and nursing consultations and notes

− Administrative data: total costs, length of hospital stay, length of re-education, number of ambulatory consultations, first and last consultation date, follow-up duration, BioBanking data

− Outcome parameters: remission, clinical and microbiological recurrences, progressive ischemia, adverse events, patient satisfaction per questionnaire at 2 months after end of treatment, eventual prostheses, and type of off-loading devices, rehospitalization and retreatment elsewhere, Frailty Score according to Fried, total treatment costs, and the nutritional status at Test-of-Cure-visit