You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Orthopaedics
Non-vertebral Mycobacterium avium complex osteomyelitis in an immunocompetent patient
  1. Rebecca McAllister1,
  2. Anthony Magee1 and
  3. Sean Kelly2
  1. 1Orthopaedic Surgery, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  2. 2Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Rebecca McAllister; becca.miles{at}rocketmail.com

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is a ubiquitous soil pathogen that is an uncommon cause of diseases in immunocompetent patients. In this case, we describe the presentation of an otherwise healthy man in his 50s presenting with months of malaise and severe hip pain, with aspiration initially yielding no bacteria and presumed fastidious infection. He was treated with irrigation and debridement, surgical stabilisation of the femoral neck and conventional broad-spectrum antibiotics with final cultures diagnostic of MAC osteomyelitis. This case serves to demonstrate the importance of clinical suspicion and appropriate workup of this unusual case of MAC hip osteomyelitis in an otherwise immunocompetent patient.

  • Hip implants
  • Global Health
  • Bone and joint infections
  • Orthopaedics

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2023-257670

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors The following authors were responsible for drafting the text, sourcing and editing clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms, and critical revision for important intellectual content: AM, RM and SK. The following authors gave final approval of the manuscript: AM, RM and SK.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.