Septic arthritis due to Nocardia: Case report and literature review

Nocardia is an uncommon cause of septic arthritis. We found only 37 cases reported in the literature thus far. Amongst these, only five involved prosthetic joints. Three cases were caused by N. nova and one each by N. farcinica and asteroides. Septic arthritis due to Nocardia has a favorable outcome with a combination of surgical debridement and prolonged antimicrobial therapy of three to six months. For prosthetic joint infections, removal of hardware seems to carry a better prognosis. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole continues to remain the drug of choice.