A bizarre postoperative wound infection.

Case report A 73 year old woman was admitted for a routine hemiarthroplasty to her osteoarthritic left knee. Under antibiotic cover with intravenous cephradine a Sled type prosthesis was inserted under aseptic conditions, and the wound was closed. As an inpatient she had no problems with the wound, and she was discharged on the 10th day after the operation. Three months later she was readmitted with an inflamed wound. The wound was explored under. general anaesthesia and 20 ml of yellow pus was drained from an abscess cavity. There seemed to be no communication of the cavity with the joint. The wound was washed out with copious amounts of saline and was closed over a corrugated drain. Culture of the pus yielded P multocida that was sensitive to penicillin, and treatment with penicillin was started intravenously. The wound healed uneventfully. On requestioning she admitted that three weeks before admission the lower end of the wound had broken down, and, to promote healing, she had encouraged her dog to lick the wound.