Publication:

Conservative treatment of spinal tuberculosis and its outcome: an observational study

Background Spinal tuberculosis or Pott’s spine occurs in about 1-2% of patients with tuberculosis and accounts for 40-50% of musculoskeletal tuberculosis.It is caused due to the infection of the bone by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria with the combination of spread through haematogenous route as well as lymphatic drainage.

Methods This observational study was done for a period of 2 years from Jan 2016 to Jan 2018. The total number of study participants was 51. The functional outcome was assessed using modified McCormick’s scale.

Results Majority of study participants were females accounting for 60.7% compared to males (39.21%). The main complaint of study participants was back pain (39.21%) which was followed by fever in 21.5%. Loss of appetite was the most prominent symptom seen in 15.6%. Thoracolumbar vertebrae were the site of involvement in 37.2%.

Conclusions Patients responded well with anti-tubercular treatment in mild and moderate cases of spinal TB, if there was no gross neurological deficit. Thus it is very important to identify the early symptoms of spinal TB so that timely prompt treatment should be initiated.