The following is a summary of “Proportion of patients with prosthetic joint infection eligible for adjuvant phage therapy: a French single-centre retrospective study,” published in the September 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Pogam et al.
Bone and joint infections are a primary rising health concern due to their prevalence, functional consequences, and economic burden. Phage therapy has been shown to have promising anti-biofilm capabilities against prosthetic joint infections (PJI).
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to show the proportion of patients admitted to a French general hospital eligible for phage therapy and evaluate their clinical outcomes compared to patients with PJI.
They analyzed patients with PJI between 2015 and 2019, and eligibility for phage therapy was specified based on French guidelines, except for polymicrobial infections. Patients were divided into 2 groups, eligible and ineligible for phage therapy. Their characteristics and outcomes, including severe adverse events, time of intravenous antibiotic therapy, span of hospitalization, and relapse rates, were investigated.
The results showed 96 patients with PJI, out of which 44% patients (42/96) were eligible for phage therapy with a longer duration of intravenous therapy (17 days vs. 10 days, P =0.02), more severe adverse events (11 vs. 3, P=0.08) and had a more extended hospital stay (43 days vs. 18 days, P< 0.01).
They concluded that many patients met the eligibility criteria for phage therapy, but treatment and follow-up were more complex than anticipated.
Source: bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09814-y
