Posterior versus Anterior Approach Surgery for Thoracolumbar Spinal Tuberculosis

: The aim of this study was to compare clinical effect of posterior approach and anterior approach surgery for patients with thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis. It was a descriptive, analytical study carried out at the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen City, China, from March 2012 to March 2015. A total of 84 patients with thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis were randomly divided into group A and group B, each group having 42 patients. Group A was treated with posterior approach surgery, while group B was treated with anterior approach surgery. The results showed that operation time, bleeding condition, length of stay of group A were lower than those of group B (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.013, respectively). Compared with group B, the Cobb angle of group A after surgery was lower (p<0.001). At the 28th day after treatment, the serum bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), bone gla protein (BGP), procollagen type I carboxy terminal peptide (CTX) levels of group A were lower than those of group B (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.002, respectively). As compared to anterior approach surgery, posterior approach surgery was an effective method to treat thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis and reduce serum levels of BAP, BGP and CTX.