A 44-year-old pathologist presented to the emergency department after sustaining a scalpel injury during a postmortem examination 16 hours previously. He had stabbed the dorsum of his left thumb overlying the interphalangeal joint and immediately irrigated the wound with water. At the time of presentation, he felt feverish, and had erythema and severe pain in his thumb. He was previously healthy, and did not smoke or have any known allergies. He was not taking any medications.
