Mycobacterium mucogenicum Infection in a Patient with an Open Fracture: A Case Report

Mycobacterium mucogenicum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium that is ubiquitous in nature. However, M. mucogenicum infection in patients with orthopedic trauma is rarely reported in the literature. Herein, we describe a 48 year old male Han Chinese patient whose right leg was squeezed by agricultural machinery, resulting in open tibial fractures. Postoperative antimicrobial treatment was administered because the wound had been contaminated by soil. However, no long-term wound closure occurred, and a culture of the wound exudation tested positive for M. mucogenicum. We established the clinical treatment plan according to the characteristics and drug sensitivity test results of M. mucogenicum, and the patient was discharged uneventfully. Increasingly, more reports of infection caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria are being published; however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of an orthopedic infection caused by M. mucogenicum. Because the treatment process of M. mucogenicum infection is long and complex, isolation and identification of M. mucogenicum are of great significance to effective clinical treatment.