Guntur Doctors Treat Drug-Resistant Knee Implant Infection with Phage Therapy in India First

Key facts

• A team at Samishta Hospital (SHRI), Guntur, treated a 72-year-old man's carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection of an artificial knee joint with phage therapy, reported as India's first successful use of phage therapy for such an infection.
• The infection followed knee replacement surgery in June 2025 and persisted despite surgical debridements, prosthetic component exchanges and prolonged intravenous antibiotics.
• The team, led by Dr Kalyan Chakravarthy Koganti, collaborated with the phage laboratory of SRM University (Andhra Pradesh) headed by Dr Sutharsan Govindarajan to isolate phages active against the patient's bacterial strain.
• A cocktail of three lytic phages, which alone only temporarily reduced bacterial counts, prevented regrowth in vitro and was delivered directly into the joint through a drainage tube over 10 days, with colistin given initially alongside.
• Further major surgery was deemed too risky in December when the patient's pain was rated 9 out of 10 given his age and frail condition.
• Follow-up showed clinical resolution, with joint-fluid cultures in June 2026 reported negative and the patient healthy and antibiotic-free.
• The case report was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID Regions) on 22 October 2026.