A rare case of periprosthetic joint infection of the hip due to Kocuria spp.

BACKGROUND: Kocuria spp. are ubiquitous bacteria that have gained recent attention as potential infectious agents. The most common bacteria in PJI are S. aureus und S. epidermidis. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 72-year-old woman who received total hip arthroplasty after a traumatic medial femoral neck fracture. Postoperatively, due to the clinical presentation of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) revision surgery was performed twice. The microbiological tissue samples were positive for Kocuria spp. Initially, this was considered contamination and the patient was treated with various antibiotic regimens as well as prednisolone due to the differential diagnosis of pyoderma gangraenosum. However, a specialized histopathology lab performed further testing which substantiated the suspicion of a rare case of PJI due to Kocuria spp. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a PJI caused by Kocuria spp. Further clinical research is necessary to assess whether Kocuria spp. are an underestimated cause of PJI. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-023-04286-2.