title: 'Pointing' in the wrong direction--a case of diverticulitis presenting at the hip.
abstract: We report the case of a 73-year-old lady who was seen with an infected sinus leaking from the wound of a recently inserted right total hip joint prosthesis. Plain radiographs revealed gas shadows in the region of the wound. An intra-operative sinogram showed the sinus to be coming from a pelvic diverticular abscess and the hip to be an innocent bystander. Our case emphasises the importance of having a clear preoperative plan with relevant investigations before a radical operative procedure is undertaken, to avoid unnecessary risk to a non-infected hip prosthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, UK. dr_shahnawaz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haleem
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clifton
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Quraishi
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hallett
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003106:Colon / Q000473:pathology*; D017577:Cutaneous Fistula / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004239:Diverticulitis, Colonic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D016896:Treatment Outcome