Fungal Prosthetic Joint Infection Following Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Case Report

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a rare complication of total knee replacement (TKR), yet it is a serious and debilitating condition. Bacterial infection accounts for the majority of cases and fungal infection is estimated to cause 1% of all prosthesis infection.

This case presents a 60years female, who presented to our outpatient orthopedic clinic complaining of right knee pain, swelling, and hotness. The physical examination revealed redness, hotness, restricted range of movement, and tibial loosening, 9 months following TKR revision. Culture of the joint aspirate showed growth of "Candida parapsilosis" and second aspirate confirmed the diagnosis. The patient then underwent two stages revision surgery with placement of amphotericin B loaded cement, to maintain high local antifungal concentration in addition to decrease the side effects of amphotericinB infusion such as thrombophlebitis and the more serious systemic effect as nephrotoxicity. The post-operative course was uneventful, with gradual improvement and restoration of normal movement range.

Fungal PJI is a rare complication of TKR, yet it results in severe debilitating symptoms and impairment of the patient functional capacity. Careful evaluation of the patient followed by a detailed workup is necessary for the identification of the underlying causative micro-organism. Two-stage revision surgery with antifungal loaded cement spacer and antifungal therapy currently is the standard of management. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fungal PJI following total knee arthroplasty reported in Jordan.