A Case Series of Rifabutin Use in Staphylococcal Prosthetic Infections

This case series describes seven patients who received rifabutin in place of rifampin combined with conventional antimicrobial therapy for treatment of hardware-associated staphylococcal infections. Infection recurrence, defined as need for unplanned surgical intervention within the evaluable follow up period after starting rifabutin, occurred in two patients. Two patients experienced possible treatment-associated adverse effects. Findings support future work to examine rifabutin use, when rifampin is not suitable, for adjunctive treatment of staphylococcal hardware infections. IMPORTANCE This work evaluates real-world data and clinical outcomes when rifabutin is used in place of rifampin for adjunctive management of staphylococcal hardware-associated infections. This is the second case study looking at this specific use of rifabutin, signifying the current lack of clinical data in this area. Assessing use of rifabutin in this capacity is clinically important given its lower propensity for drug interactions compared to rifampin.