Tuberculous Arthritis of the Hip

Kim, Young Min; Kim, Hee Joong; Chung, Phil Hyun

Abstract

Although the incidence of tuberculous arthritis of the hip is being decreased with improvement of hygiene and preventive measures and chemotheraphy, it remains as important disease in orthopedic surgery. In order to evaluate which treatment is best in the view of eradication of the tuberculosis and preservation of the function, seventy two patients of tuberculous arthritis of the hip who were treated at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul University Hospital for periods of 14 years between January 1970 and August 1983 were analysed clinically. The results are as follows: 1. Age distribution showed that patients below 15 years were thirty (41.7%) and those above 16 years were forty two (58.3%). 2. Onset of the symptoms above 1 year occupied forty two patients (58.3%). 3. Duration of follow up is between 1 year and 14 years with average duration of 3.5 years. 4. Recurrence rate according to the modality of treatment was 12.9% as 4 cases among 31 cases of hip fusion group, 15,2% as 5 cases among 33 cases of synovectomy group, and 28.6% as 2 cases among 7 cases of conservative group. 5. Follow up of the functional evaluation of the hip was 92.9% of "above Fair" as 26 cases among 28 cases of synovectomy group, 60% of "above Fair" as 3 cases among 5 cases of conservetive treatment group, and 25.7% of "above Fair" as 9 cases among 35 cases of hip fusion group. 6. Although the recurrence rate of synovectomy group is a little higher than that of hip fusion group, synovectomy is a better treatment in the view of the preservation of the function of the hip considering Korean life style.