Acute Infection of a Total Hip Arthroplasty by Pasteurella multocida Successfully Treated With Antibiotics and Joint Washout

Abstract

Pasteurella infections in humans are usually zoonotic in origin, presentations including cellulitis, septic arthritis and even respiratory illness in the elderly and immunocompromised, so called “cat cuddler’s cough”. Septic arthritis in patients with prosthetic joints associated with Pasteurella frequently leads to loss of the joint. We present a case of prosthetic hip infection in a 74-year-old woman secondary to cellulitis caused by a cat bite. The patient in our case had a joint washout followed by an initial course of 2 weeks intravenous antibiotics and subsequently 6 weeks of oral antibiotics without the removal of her hip prosthesis. J Med Cases. 2014;5(7):411-412 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc1831w