Harnessing the Biologic Power of Bacteriophages to Improve the Treatment of Periprosthetic Joint Infection: Barriers and Future Directions.

J Bone Joint Surg Am · Jul 28 2026 · Recent

Abdelbary H, Malko S, Taha M, Crawley AM, Powell JN, Abedi AA, et al.

Inflammation Chronic Disease Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Canada

Adult Reconstruction

SUMMARY — THE REDUCTIONThis expert review outlines the therapeutic promise of bacteriophage therapy as an adjunct for periprosthetic joint infection while identifying key translational barriers limiting its clinical adoption.
Abstract, as published

➢ Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) remains the most common cause of failure after total joint arthroplasty, with current standard therapies associated with failure rates between 10% and 30%.➢ The 2025 International Consensus Meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, highlighted the potential benefits of bacteriophage (phage) therapy in managing PJI.➢ One of the barriers to integrating phage therapy into standard clinical PJI care is the knowledge gap between preclinical research and clinical practice.➢ This Expert Review summarizes the key therapeutic advantages of using phages as an adjuvant therapeutic platform for PJI. It also highlights the current challenges that are continuing to limit the integration of phages into standard PJI care.

Read the article: PubMed · Publisher (DOI)

Featured in the 2026-07-31 issue.

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