Abstract
CASE: A 34-year-old healthy G3P3 woman, 1.5 weeks postpartum, presented with hip pain, fever, and a rash. Clinical examination, laboratory testing, and microbiologic cultures identified bacterial arthritis of the right hip; obstetric/gynecologic examination and cultures identified endometrial, vaginal, and urinary tract infections caused by the same pathogen, group A streptococcus, likely contracted from her 5-year-old son who had streptococcal pharyngitis. She underwent successful surgical decompression of the hip with concurrent medical management of toxic shock syndrome (TSS).
CONCLUSIONS: Hematogenously spread septic arthritis may occur in the absence of positive blood cultures during the postpartum period, increasing the risk of developing TSS.