Serratia marcescens osteomyelitis in Cushing's disease

Debridement, Antibiotics, and Implant Retention for a Rare Serratia marcescens Infection after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Case Report

Introduction

Recently, Serratia marcescens was reported to cause nosocomial infections.

Case Report

In this study, we report a case of S. marcescens infection occurring after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in a 72-year-old woman. The patient had undergone TKA for knee osteoarthritis. She had a past medical history of diabetes mellitus, for which she was receiving cefazolin sodium. Six days after surgery, redness and effusion were observed in the wound, and post-operative infection was suspected. Thus, the patient was treated with linezolid, clindamycin, and tazobactam/piperacillin hydrate post-operatively. Twelve days after TKA, reinfection was suspected; hence, washing and debridement were repeated.

Conclusion

In this case, remission of S. marcescens infection was achieved without the need to remove the implant by cleaning, debridement, and the use of sensitive antimicrobial agents.

Recurrent Serratia marcescens osteomyelitis eight years after a contaminated open fracture: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) is an unusual cause of osteomyelitis. Infection may develop following open trauma, intravenous drug abuse, or in the presence of hardware, but osteoarticular infections outside of this context are atypical in the absence of immunodeficiency. Rarely, a chronic indolent infection may develop after open trauma with disease recurrence years after the initial injury.

Case Description

We present the case of a 16-year-old male with extensive left lower extremity osteomyelitis secondary to S. marcescens eight years after an open fracture to this leg was complicated by an infection with the same organism. Suboptimal therapy of his initial infection may have contributed to persistent, latent disease before recurrence years later. Evaluation for immunodeficiency was negative and he responded well to ciprofloxacin antibiotic therapy.

Conclusions

S. marcescens infection may complicate open fractures, and, if not adequately treated, a chronic, indolent infection may result, with disease recurrence years later. We stress the importance of adequate therapy for infectious complications following open fractures and discuss virulence factors of S. marcescens that may allow this organism to evade the immune system and survive subclinically within a host. The optimal therapy of S. marcescens osteomyelitis is not established and further studies are needed to best guide the therapeutic approach.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations for optimizing antimicrobial therapy used to treat bone and joint infections: an evidence-based algorithmic approach

INTRODUCTION

Bone and joint infections (BJIs) are a major health concern causing remarkable morbidity and mortality. However, which antimicrobial treatment could be the best according to specific clinical scenarios and/or to the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) features remains an unmet clinical need. This multidisciplinary opinion article aims to develop evidence-based algorithms for empirical and targeted antibiotic therapy of patients affected by BJIs.

AREAS COVERED

A multidisciplinary team of four experts had several rounds of assessment for developing algorithms devoted to empirical and targeted antimicrobial therapy of BJIs. A literature search was performed on PubMed-MEDLINE (until April 2023) to provide evidence for supporting therapeutic choices. Four different clinical scenarios were structured according to specific infection types (i.e. vertebral osteomyelitis, prosthetic joint infections, infected non-unions and other chronic osteomyelitis, and infectious arthritis), need or not of surgical intervention or revision, isolation or not of clinically relevant bacterial pathogens from blood and/or tissue cultures, and PK/PD features of antibiotics.

EXPERT OPINION

The proposed therapeutic algorithms were based on a multifaceted approach considering the peculiar features of each antibiotic (spectrum of activity, PK/PD properties, bone penetration rate, and anti-biofilm activity), and could be hopefully helpful in improving clinical outcome of BJIs.

A Complicated Case of Vertebral Osteomyelitis by Serratia Marcescens

Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone and bone marrow that can be caused by an exogenous source or by hematogenous spread. The hematogenous spread of bacteria usually results in bacteremia with subsequent infection of the bone. The most commonly associated pathogen with this type of infection is Staphylococcus aureus, with other gram-negative organisms, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also frequently encountered. The microorganism Serratia marcescens is a rare and infrequently encountered cause of this condition known to cause nosocomial infections. This organism can be notoriously difficult to treat, with resistance to many commonly used antibiotics. The case presented is one of vertebral osteomyelitis in an intravenous drug user caused by Serratia marcescens with subsequent treatment and management of the condition. This case allows for investigation into the continued management of intravenous drug user infections, with the isolation and treatment of less commonly encountered pathogens.