RESEARCH ARTICLE
Acute Hematogenous Infection of Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty by Oral Bacteria in a Patient without a History of Dental Procedures: Case Report
Motoki Sonohata*, Masaru Kitajima, Syunsuke Kawano, Masaaki Mawatari
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 56
Last Page: 59
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-8-56
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001408010056
Article History:
Received Date: 29/7/2013Revision Received Date: 10/3/2014
Acceptance Date: 29/3/2014
Electronic publication date: 7/3/2014
Collection year: 2014

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The risk of periprosthetic joint infection from hematogenous bacterial seeding is increased in patients undergoing dental procedures that facilitate the development of bacteremia.
We herein report the case of a patient without a history of dental procedures who suffered from an acute metastatic infection of a hip prosthesis by the oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans 18 months after undergoing revision total hip arthroplasty. The patient was successfully treated by two-stage revision surgery.
It is important to realize that the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis against joint infections has not yet been convincingly proven. As a result, optimal dental hygiene and regular dental visits may be more important than antibiotic prophylaxis for maintaining joint health. Therefore, orthopedic surgeons should educate patients with joint prostheses about good oral health.