Challenges and Opportunities in Personalized Management of Bone and Joint Infections

Dear Colleagues,

Prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are biofilm-associated infections that occur in a small percentage of patients who have undergone joint replacement surgeries. While the incidence of PJIs is low (1-3%), the increasing frequency of arthroplasties has made it a significant public health issue. PJIs are difficult to manage due to the presence of biofilm, which hinders diagnostics and treatment. The eradication of PJIs requires a combination of surgery and antimicrobial therapy, with the added goal of relieving pain and maintaining joint function. However, not all patients achieve these outcomes.

The Special Issue titled "Challenges and Opportunities in Personalized Management of Bone and Joint Infections" provides novel insights into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies of bone and joint infections, with a particular focus on PJIs. This Special Issue emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach to manage PJIs and highlights the challenges in accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

This Special Issue welcomes key papers that address various aspects of PJIs, including microbiological diagnosis, personalized therapies, and prevention strategies. It explores novel approaches in diagnosing PJIs, including the use of state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques like NGS and MALDI-TOF MS, and their role in choosing the best therapeutic strategies, especially in complex cases.

This Special Issue also delves into non-common anti-infective agents like bacteriophages or lysins that target pathogens specifically and have antibiofilm activities.

This Special Issue emphasizes personalized treatment strategies based on the patient's specific condition and clinical health data, with a potential role for machine learning in identifying high-risk patients. It also addresses the economic and health consequences of managing chronic PJIs, including the costs associated with reimplantation and the high rate of subsequent new infections.

Also, papers on the diagnostics and management of septic arthritis in native joints are welcome.

Overall, this Special Issue serves as a comprehensive platform for delivering novel insights into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies of bone and joint infections, contributing significantly to the field.

We welcome both reviews and original articles, but submissions are not limited to these types of manuscripts. By sharing our knowledge and experience, we can work towards a better understanding and management of bone and joint infections.

I look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Rareş Mircea Bîrluţiu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Personalized Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• bone and joint infections
• prosthetic joint infection
• arthroplasty infection
• definition of prosthetic joint infection
• prosthetic joint infection prevention
• diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection
• prosthetic joint infection management
• antimicrobial therapy of prosthetic joint infection
• diagnostics and management of septic arthritis in native joints
• future research directions for improved patient outcomes