A Study of 42 Cases of Pott’s Paraplegia with Anterior Spinal Decompression & Stabilisation with Rib Graft Alone

Background: Spinal tuberculosis is mostly secondary to either Pulmonary or Abdominal lesions, and may result in Paraplegia either due to pressure effects of the cold abscess or due to collapse of the vertebra. Most of the patients with Grade I and II paraparesis respond well to chemotherapy, while Grade III and IV patients and some of the patients in Grade I and II who do not respond to chemotherapy need Spinal decompression to prevent irreparable damage to the Spinal who did not respond to 3-4 weeks of chemotherapy and rest or deteriorated during treatment. They were treated by anterior trans-thorasic and trans-pleural spinal decompression by partial or total carpectomy depending on the extent of involvement of the bodies and anterior spinal fusion using rib graft alone, during the period Feb. 2007 to May 2014, in Government General and Chest hospital, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad. Results: Out of 42 patients complete neurological recovery was seen in 40 patients, 1 patient had partial recovery while 1 patient died of post-operative complications. Conclusions: Anterior spinal decompression and stabilization using rib graft alone is a good choice of surgical treatment in terms of neurological recovery, healing of the lesion, and is a cost-effective treatment option for the patient. Post-operative rehabilitation is also early.