Clostridium perfringens infection in a total knee arthroplasty. A case report.

A 66-year-old woman with a painful total knee arthroplasty and turbid fluid aspirates had her prosthesis removed for a presumed diagnosis of infection. The intraoperative cultures were positive for Clostridium perfringens, and the patient did well after a course of intravenous antibiotics prior to reimplantation. Clostridium perfringens is a rare cause of pyarthrosis in both nonoperative and prosthetic joints. This report details the first case of clostridial infection involving a patient with a total knee arthroplasty.