Primary total hip replacement has become a routine procedure these days. With improvement in surgical techniques and implant designs, the survival rate of prosthesis has increased significantly but unfortunately, prosthetic infections though uncommon continue to be a threatening complication. We present a detailed review of the literature along with a case report of infected total hip prosthesis in a 36-year-old female who had been operated 6 years back. The causative organism was found to be Actinomyces israelii which was related to an infected intrauterine device used for contraception that had been forgotten after being implanted 8 years earlier.
Keywords: Actinomyces israelii; Haematogenous; Hip prosthesis; Intrauterine contraceptive device; Late infection.