Acute cholecystitis secondary to Raoultella ornithinolytica infection, complicated by sepsis, gallbladder perforation, hepatic abscess and bacteraemia

Herein, a case of an immunocompromised patient in his early 70s is discussed who presented with clinical signs and symptoms compatible with sepsis from an intra-abdominal source and who was found to have blood cultures positive for the encapsulated Gram-negative pathogen Raoultella ornithinolytica, with the source of infection determined, via imaging, to be a case of acute cholecystitis complicated by gallbladder perforation, multiple pericholecystic and hepatic abscesses, and persistent bacteraemia. To our knowledge, this represents the first described case of cholecystitis and gallbladder perforation directly attributed to this species, and highlights both the pathogen’s capacity to cause severe disease as well as the utility of a multidisciplinary approach to achieve optimal patient outcome.