Lyme periprosthetic joint infection in total knee arthroplasty

• Main Authors: Murillo Adrados, MD, Daniel Howard Wiznia, MD, Marjorie Golden, MD, Richard Pelker, MD, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-06-01
• Series: Arthroplasty Today
• Subjects: Prosthetic joint injection; Total knee arthroplasty; TKA; PJI; Lyme arthritis
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352344117301796

Lyme arthritis, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, is a common tick-borne illness in New England and the upper Midwest. Most often, the disease affects the knee and has typically been reported as a cause of native joint infection. There has been only 1 case of Lyme periprosthetic joint infection (associated with a total knee arthroplasty) reported in the literature, and to our knowledge, no other reported cases of Lyme periprosthetic joint infections exist. In this article, we report on 2 patients diagnosed with prosthetic joint infections who were subsequently found to have Lyme prosthetic joint infections, with B burgdorferi as the infectious organism. We discuss the medical and surgical management of these patients.