Our Contribution to the Surgical Management of Tuberculous Spondylitis

The authors studied a group of 7 patients (5 men and 2 women) suffering from tuberculous spondylitis who were treated at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1992 to 1998. The thoracic spine was affected six-times, lumbar spine once. Three patients were treated with Capener anterolateral decompression. In three patients combined surgery was used (removed structures were replaced by autograft or Harms’ mesh and posterior fusion was carried out, using TSRH or Miami instrumentation). In one patient, the inflammed lesion was removed through an anterior approach and the structure was replaced by bone cement reinforced with Kirschner wires. Neurological deficit was found in five patients, two of whom had paraplegia; marked improvement occurred in three cases.