Septic arthritis of knee due to Burkholderia pseudomallei: a case report

Burkholderia pseudomallei is an important cause of sepsis in certain parts of Asia and northern Australia. It usually causes abscess in the lungs, liver, spleen, skeletal muscle and parotids, especially in patients who are immunocompromised. In India, musculoskeletal melioidosis has rarely been reported. We report such a case with septic arthritis of the knee, diagnosed on the basis of a positive pus culture. After being treated by arthrotomy and surgical debridement followed by a combination of intravenous ceftazidime (acute phase = three weeks) and oral doxycycline and co-trimoxazole (eradication phase = five weeks) for two months, the patient recovered completely with no recurrence.