Clinical Observation on Tuberculosis of the Bone and Joint

Roh, Kwon Jae; Kim, Kwang Duk; Yoon, Hong Sik; Oh, Se Hwan

Abstract

One hundred and seventy-two cases of tuberculosis of the bones and joints were treated at the department of orthopedic surgery, Inchon Christian Hospital during the 3 years and 10 months from March, 1979, to December, 1982. The results obtained were as followings: 1. The incidence was decreased progressively 1.92% in 1980 to 1.18 in 1982. 2. Tuberculous lesions involved spine(50.58%), knee(16.28%), hip(13.37%), ankle(2.33%) and greater trochanter(2.33%) in order. 3. Age and sex distribution were not remarkable. 4. The main associated tuberculous lesions were pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous pleurisy (20.65%). Therefore, pulmonary problems should be always carefully investigated in every case of skeletal tuberculosis. 5. Average duration of disease was one year and 3.5 months, average hospital days was one month. 6. Initial miss diagnosis of lesions ultimately proved to be tuberculosis. Rheumatoid arthritis:13 cases, Osteoarthritis : 3 cases, Herniated lumbar disc: 3 cases, Cellulitis :2 cases, Neoplasm :2 cases. Early diagnosis is essential since proper therapy is available and far advanced destruction, long suffering and disability can be avoided. 7. Post operative complication was mainly due to failure of bone graft in tuberculous spondylitis and was draining sinus formation and wound disruption in other skeletal tuberculosis. 8. The result of treatment of skeletal tuberculosis from conservative methods were relatively poor. The corroboratory care of skeletal tuberculosis can be obtained by extensive surgery.