Abstract
Gemella morbillorum is a gram-positive coccus found in the gastrointestinal tract, and is an uncommon cause of human infections, including prosthetic joint infections (PJI). Reported risk factors include immunosuppression, recent gastrointestinal procedures, and poor dental hygiene. This report describes a case of knee PJI caused by G. morbillorum, likely due to hematogenous seeding following a colonoscopy three months earlier. The patient is a 70-year-old man with well-controlled diabetes mellitus who had undergone total knee arthroplasty three years prior. He presented with three weeks of left knee swelling. Synovial fluid culture revealed G. morbillorum. The patient was treated with debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR), followed by prolonged antibiotic therapy. Arthrocentesis remains the gold standard for diagnosis, and the timing of diagnosis significantly affects prog
Recommended Citation
Echevarria-Castro, Nataly; Shaleen Duhra; and Leonor Echevarria. "Prosthetic Knee Joint Infection Caused by Gemella morbillorum." Western Journal of Orthopaedics 15, 1 (2026). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wjo/vol15/iss1/18