Selection of surgical procedures for the treatment of spinal tuberculosis

Objective To discuss the selection of surgical procedures for the treatment of spinal tu-berculosis according to the status of segmental stability of the spine. Methods One hundred adult patients with spinal tuberculosis were treated surgically between January 1998 and December 2003. There were 57 males and 43 females with an average age of 39.4 years and an average history of 16 months. The lesion ranged from T2 to S 2, and involved single vertebral body in 3 cases, double vertebral bodies in 66 cases, and more than two vertebral bodies in 31 cases. Of 100 cases, 32 were with neurological dysfunctions, and 65 were accompanied by kyphotic deformity with an average Cobb angels of 36.4° (20° to 48°). Preoperative chemotherapy of four drugs lasted more than two weeks. Three surgical procedures were performed according to the status of segmental stability of the spine: 12 cases without spine instability underwent single debride-ment, 8 cases of spine instability with debridement and interbody fusion, and 80 cases of significant insta-bility with debridement, fusion and internal fixation. Results All patients' incision healed without chronic infection and sinus formation. 95 patients were followed up with an average of 2.9 years ranged 1 to 77 years except 5 patients lost at follow up. 68 cases with anterior fusion achieved solid fusion in average 3.5 months. 65 cases with kyphotic deformity had an average correction of 20.2° postoperatively, and 2° to 4° loss during follow-up. 32 cases with neurological deficits had an improvement of neurological function postoperatively. One patient of L 4,5 tuberculosis treated with anterior debridement, fusion and instrumentation recurred at 7 months due to an inadequate postoperative chemotherapy of 6 months, and healed with a continuous chemotherapy for 18 months, However, satisfactory clinical results were obtained in other patients without any recurrence. A left external iliac vein was torn and repaired successfully in 1 case. Conclusion The maintenance of segmental stability has significant effect in the surgical treatment of spinal tuberculosis. Sta-tus of segmental stability of each patient should be evaluated preoperatively. Satisfactory clinical results can be achieved by proper selection of the surgical procedure according to the status of segmental stability.