First Use of Phage Therapy in India for the Treatment of a Life-Threatening, Pan-Drug-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Periprosthetic Joint Infection

We are reporting a prosthesis-associated infection caused by pan-drug-resistant K. pneumoniae, culminating in septicaemia. A phage cocktail at a concentration of 1 × 109 PFU/mL was used to irrigate the implant site. The elevated sepsis and renal dysfunction markers returned to normal within 72 hours of the phage therapy. Acinetobacter baumannii could appear twice when K. pneumoniae became sparse at the wound site, which was treated with the customised phage cocktails. The patient fully recovered with the ongoing local application of the phage cocktail for 152 days. This is a unique case reporting phage therapy for septicaemia on compassionate grounds in India.