TY - JOUR
AR - IJSCR-2022-3-102
TI - Migrating Periprosthetic Infection from a Total Hip Replacement to a Contralateral Non-Operated Osteoarthritic Knee Joint
AU - George A, Komnos
AU - Antonios, Papadopoulos
AU - Efstratios, Athanaselis
AU - Theofilos, Karachalios
AU - Sokratis E., Varitimidis
JO - International Journal of Surgical Case Reports
PY - 2022
DA - Thu 05, Jan 2023
SN - 2674-4171
DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.IJSCR.2022.03.02
UR - https://www.sciencerepository.org/migrating-periprosthetic-infection_IJSCR-2022-3-102 
KW - PJI, Enterococcus faecalis, case report, migrating infection
AB - Introduction: There is a paucity of published data on whether a treated infected arthroplasty is a risk factor for infection in another, non-operated joint. Contamination of a primary, arthritic, non-operated joint from an infected arthroplasty is a relatively rare entity. 
Case: We report a case of migration of a pathogen (Enterococcus faecalis) from an infected prosthetic joint (hip) to the contralateral native joint (knee). Identification of the pathogen was made with PCR, by obtaining cultures during the implantation of the primary knee prosthesis.
Conclusion: Contamination of a primary, arthritic, non-operated joint from an infected arthroplasty has not been widely reported. Management of such cases is extremely challenging and without clear and established guidelines. Our experience shows that tissue samples should be taken intraoperatively and sent for cultures, so as to exclude contamination in those cases.