Non-typhoid salmonella septic arthritis in dual living liver transplant recipient: a case report

Non-typhoid salmonellosis is an infectious disease caused by Salmonella species other than Salmonella typhi. Although the usual clinical course of non-typhoid salmonellosis is a benign self-limiting gastroenteritis, these bacteria are especially problematic in immunocompromised individuals, including patients with malignancies, human immunodeficiency virus, or diabetes, and those receiving corticosteroids or other immunotherapy agents. In addition to enteric symptoms, Salmonella species give rise to extra-intestinal complications, including self-limiting arthritis, which appears 1 to 3 weeks after the onset of infection and lasts from a few weeks to several months. In some patients, however, this arthritis spears to be chronic in nature. We describe herein a living-donor liver transplant recipient who experienced non-typhoid Salmonella-triggered arthritis in the left hip. The patient recovered uneventfully after 6-month-long antibiotics treatment. Clinicians involved in transplantation should be aware of the possibility that transplant recipients, like other immunocompromised individuals, are at risk of salmonellosis and therefore require careful clinical and microbiological evaluation, with the goals of prevention and early recognition of infection.