Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies dysgalactiae infection after total knee arthroplasty: a case report

Knee Surg Relat Res. 2012 Jun;24(2):120-3. doi: 10.5792/ksrr.2012.24.2.120. Epub 2012 May 31.

Abstract

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies dysgalactiae (SDSD), Lancefield group C streptococcus, is an animal pathogen which often causes pyogenic infection in domestic animals. Human infection by SDSD has been reported as a cellulitis on the upper arm, but a prosthetic joint infection caused by SDSD after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has not yet been reported in the literature demonstrating that its clinical manifestation and management have not been well established. In this case report, we aimed to present a case of SDSD prosthetic joint infection after TKA, which was successfully treated by two-stage re-implantation with an application of antibiotic-impregnated cement spacer.

Keywords: Dysgalactiae; Infection; Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp; Total knee arthroplasty.