Outcome in Surgically Treated Patients with Dorsal and Dorsolumbar Spinal Tuberculosis: A Retrospective Study of 40 Cases

Abstract

Objective:  To determine the influence of disease severity and surgical treatment in patients with dorsal and dorsolumbar spinal tuberculosis with severe neurological deficit.

Methods:  In this retrospective study (2005 – 2009) medical records of all patients with dorsal and dorsolumbar spinal tuberculosis treated surgically by Zafar Iqbal were analyzed. The clinical features, disease severity, operative procedures and outcome and factors affecting outcome were analyzed.

Results:  A total of 42 patients with dorsal and dorsolumbar spinal tuberculosis with severe neurological deficit were treated surgically during this period. Two patients had follow-up of less than 3 months and were excluded from this study. Their age ranged from 18 to 65 years, with a mean age of 31 years. Male to female ratio was 3:2. Presenting symptoms were local pain in 34 (85%), radicular pain in 5 (12.5%), 

Conclusion:  This study indicates that a significant proportion of patients with spinal tuberculosis and severe motor deficits get remarkable improvement after surgical decompression and hence should undergo surgery even though they may be suffering from paraplegia of considerable duration. We found that age less than 50 years, radical surgery and spasticity are favourable prognostic factors.