Salphage: Salvage bacteriophage therapy for a chronic Enterococcus faecalis prosthetic joint infection

Abstract

Chronic prosthetic joint infections are difficult to treat without conducting revision surgery because conventional antibiotics cannot eradicate bacteria that reside in biofilms. Consequently, novel therapeutics are needed to help treat prosthetic joint infections with one being bacteriophage therapy given its innate biofilm activity. Herein a sixty-nine-year-old man with a recalcitrant Enterococcus faecalis prosthetic joint infection is discussed. The patient was successfully treated with personalized bacteriophage therapy and after two years of follow up he has not had a clinical recurrence. Overall, this case report supports that bacteriophage therapy for prosthetic joint infections has promise to reduce the morbidity that is associated with current treatments. However, more research is needed to assess whether this therapeutic is helping eradicate infections or if it is making bacteria less pathogenic. This is an important point which will need to be evaluated as this therapeutic continues to be developed for all infections.

Keywords

• Bacteriophage therapy
• Enterococcus faecalis
• Prosthetic joint infection
• Intraarticular therapy
• Salvage therapy