Near Infrared Antibacterial Phototherapy for Treatment of Orthopedic Infections

Bacterial infections have caused various diseases in orthopedic settings. Antibacterial drugs as a traditional approach of combating bacterial infections have been used over past decades, but yet suffer from challenges of antibacterial drug resistance, lack of targeting the infected sites, etc. There is a need to explore the innovative approach of phototherapy against the chronic bacterial infections. In this review, the current nonphototherapeutic approaches are initially documented for eliminating bacterial infections, then the phototherapeutic modalities are presented, and lastly, comprehensive discussion on near infrared (NIR) light-based antibacterial treatments for orthopedic implants is narrowed down. Utilizing the benefits of NIR light and photosensitizers is anticipated to address the problems related to multidrug-resistant strains. The integrated modality with phototherapies of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) is more effective than the single-mode approaches to treat bone and teeth bacterial infections. Furthermore, the challenges and the future directions regarding phototherapies of implants related infections are discussed. The aim of this review is to pinpoint the advantages of NIR light and photosensitizers to eradicate biofilms formulated on implants surface, avoiding the implant failure and associated bone and teeth bacterial infections.