Italy rugby coach Nick Mallett has drafted Parma centre Alessio Galante into the squad for a Six Nations match with Wales later this month,
Galante comes in as a replacement for Ludovico Nitoglia who pulled out for personal reasons a day after being picked to replace injured winger Kaine Robertson.
Galante, who has two caps, plays for northern Italian side Calvisano, like Nitoglia.
Full-back and place kicker David Bortolussi may miss the rest of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
He has been replaced by another Calvisano player, Paolo Buso, who is expected to win his first cap in Cardiff on February 23.
Italy are bottom of the Six Nations table along with Scotland but coach Nick Mallet is optimistic they can salvage something from the tournament.
They put in strong displays - especially by the forwards - in losing narrowly to Ireland and England in their first two matches of the competition.
After their trip to Cardiff Italy play group leaders France in Paris on March 9 and end their campaign at home to Scotland on March 15.
