The surgical approach and clinical results for cervical spine tuberculosis: A retrospective study in 15cases

Abstract

The surgical approaches to treating cervical spinal tuberculosis (CSTB) were contentious, and there is little literature on the subject. The study's objectives were to assess the clinical results of three surgical methods in Cervical Spine TB patients and choose the best strategy for these patients. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of clinical and radiological data gathered from 50 consecutive spinal tubercular patients between Jan 2020 and November 2022, including 20 patients who were identified and treated for CSTB in our hospital. The remaining patients (15 cases) underwent surgery using anterior debridement, interbody fusion, and instrumentation (A group), posterior instrumentation and anterior debridement, fusion, and instrumentation in a single or two-stage operation (AP group), or posterior debridement, fusion, and posterior instrumentation (P group), with the exception of 4 patients who were treated conservatively (P group). Hematological, radiological, and neurologic tests were used to evaluate the patients both before and after surgery. The average follow-up period for the 15 patients was 24 months (range, 18-24 months). After surgery, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) value in all patients reverted to normal in 3 to 6 months, and solid bone fusion was accomplished in 3 to 8 months. Following surgery, the patients showed a considerable reduction in deformity and neurological deficiency, and at the final checkup, all patients had had a significant improvement on the visual analogue scale for pain. The results of the follow-up procedures showed that all 3 surgical techniques were effective ways to treat CSTB. Abbrevations: CSTB stands for cervical spinal tuberculosis, ASIA stands for American Spinal Injury Association. Computerized tomography Ethambutol, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, isoniazid, MRI, rifampicin, tuberculosis, VAS, and pyrazinamide are the abbreviations used in this sentence.

Key words: anterior, surgical approach, cervical tuberculosis