ReviewAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Rifampicin in Osteoarticular Infections: A Comprehensive Review of Current Evidence.
Review in Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOsteoarticular infections (OAI)-including prosthetic joint infections (PJI), fracture-related infections (FRI), and osteomyelitis-are challenging to cure because bacterial biofilm on implant surfaces confers up to 1000-fold antibiotic tolerance, driving chronicity and relapse. Rifampicin, through its bactericidal activity against quiescent, biofilm-embedded bacteria and excellent oral bioavailability, occupies a pivotal role in managing Gram-positive OAI.
methodsThis comprehensive narrative review synthesises mechanistic, preclinical, and clinical evidence on rifampicin across the three major osteoarticular infection types and by causative pathogen. PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library were searched (January 1990-June 2026); of several hundred candidate records identified, the 101 most relevant were selected for narrative synthesis.
resultsThe strongest evidence supports rifampicin in staphylococcal PJI managed with debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR), with fluoroquinolones as optimal companions; monotherapy invariably selects resistant mutants. This benefit is expected to extend beyond PJI to other osteoarticular infections managed with hardware retention-fracture-related infection and implant-associated osteomyelitis-given the shared biofilm target on retained metalwork. Benefit is attenuated in implant-exchange procedures, and evidence for
conclusionsRifampicin remains a valuable, difficult-to-replace agent in staphylococcal PJI treated with DAIR, provided it is introduced after surgical source control and combined with a fluoroquinolone. Observational data suggest possible benefit from introduction beyond 5 days post-debridement and courses of at least 14 days, but each threshold rests on a single study and requires confirmation. High-quality randomised trials targeting others OAI with implant retention, non-staphylococcal pathogens, optimal dosing, and treatment duration are needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.