Ozone therapy in conjunction with oral antibiotics as a successful primary and sole treatment for chronic septic prosthetic joint: review and case report

The world is facing crisis in management of infectious diseases. The mainstay of treatment has been chemical anti-infectives. These drugs are failing, as superbugs emerge and medicine becomes more sophisticated with treatments such as prosthetic devices, which can harbor bacteria protected by biofilm. This case report describes a 68-year-old woman who received bilateral artificial hips on October 27, 2015. The right hip prosthesis subsequently became septic by June 2016. Three orthopedic surgeons offered her a several month program, which included removal of the prosthesis, implantation of an antibiotic impregnated “spacer” and months of intravenous antibiotics. Instead, she sought and received intravenous ozone therapy, local joint ozone gas injection, and nutritional supplements. She quickly improved. Subsequently, she was given oral Augmentin (875 mg three times daily) beginning at September 19, 2016 for 1 month, when a third culture returned positive for two oral organisms. She experienced even more rapid improvement. By October 12, she reported total resolution of symptoms. A subsequent MRI on November 30, 2016 showed total clearance of infection. This is the first report of a septic prosthetic joint infection completely resolving without some form of surgical intervention, debridement at the least. It is also the first to report such cure without the use of any parenteral antibiotics. This case and world literature suggest that ozone therapy could be considered as a useful adjunctive treatment for hard to treat infection and biofilm.