Nefise Öztoprak1, Güven Çelebi1, Ahmet Bayar2, Füsun Beğendik-Cömert3

1Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dalı
2Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Ortopedi ve Travmatoloji Anabilim Dalı
3Zonguldak Karaelmas Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dalı

Keywords: Bacterial infections; osteomyelitis/etiology/therapy; Pseudomonas putida; soft tissue infections; tibial fractures/complications.

Abstract

Pseudomonas putida is a Gram-negative, nonfermentative, saprophytic soil bacterium with versatile metabolical features. We presented an 18-year-old male patient who developed tibial osteomyelitis due to P. putida after a traffic accident. He had open comminuted fractures in the right fibula and tibia and the site of open fracture was contaminated with dust and soil. He underwent surgical debridement and irrigation of the fracture site followed by fracture reduction and application of an external fixator. Despite empirical antibiotic treatment, there was a discharge from the pin tract on the postoperative fifth day. Cultures obtained from soft tissue and bone during repeat debridement and irrigation yielded P. putida. The patient recovered after four weeks of parenteral antibiotic treatment without any sequela. A case of posttraumatic tibial osteomyelitis caused by P. putida has hitherto not been reported in the literature.