Pasteurella multocida: a nightmare for a replaced joint and the challenge to save it.

Pasteurella multocida a small gram-negative coccobacilli is primarily found as normal flora of cats and dogs. These organisms can cause a variety of infections in humans, usually the result of scratches, bites and licks by percutaneous inoculation of the organism. Most cases of septic arthritis involve a cat or dog bite distal to the involved joint without direct penetrating injury to the joint. On scenarios were Pasteurella infection is suspected within a prosthetic joint, aggressive surgical debridement and/or removal of the prosthesis with intravenous antibiotics is recommended. Prosthetic joint infections secondary to animal bites are an extremely rare complication and few cases have been reported in the literature. This is a case report of a patient that suffered a cat's bite of his right prosthetic knee and against all odd was able to save it without surgical intervention.