A bone of contention

We present a case of septic arthritis of the pubic symphysis that has been described during the postpartum period. The culture of the ultrasound-guided aspiration of the pubic symphysis joint and of multiple perioperative samples did not exhibit growth on conventional media, whereas direct staining of the aspirate revealed gram-positive cocci and gram-negative rods. We suspected a polymicrobial infection with fastidious organisms and performed enrichment of bacterial DNA and metagenomic next-generation sequencing that revealed the following organisms: Sneathia sanguinegens, Sneathia amnii, and Mageeibacillus indolicus. This result confirmed the diagnosis of septic symphysis, the likely source being the female genital tract.