Mycobacterium bovis Infection of Total Hip Arthroplasty After Intravesicular Bacille Calmette-Guérin Therapy

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a live, attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis. Intravesicular BCG therapy is the most effective treatment for superficial bladder can­cer. The most common complication of this treatment is cystitis; there is a wide range of other complications. The English-language literature includes reports of 3 total hip arthroplasty infections and 1 total knee arthroplasty infec­tion with M bovis after BCG therapy. These secondary infections may present either acutely during the therapy, months, or even years later. In this article, we report the case of a patient who presented with a painful right hip 6 years after successful total hip arthroplasty and 3 years after treatment for bladder cancer. Left total hip arthro­plasty was performed 2 years after right hip arthroplasty. Surgeons examining a painful joint arthroplasty should be particularly suspicious of infection if the patient has a history of BCG therapy.