Debridement and fusion with bone grafting and instrumentation in the treatment of multiple-level contiguous spinal tuberculosis

Objective:To investigate the results of surgical treatment for multi-level spinal tuberculosis with focal debridement,bone grafting and primary internal fixation.Method:27 cases of multi-level spinal tuberculosis treated by operation from January 1999 to January 2007 were reviewed retrospectively.3 vertebral bodies involved in 15 cases,4 vertebral bodies involved in 7 cases,5 vertebral bodies involved at least in 5 cases.Of these,there were 5 cases in thoracic vertebra,7 cases in lumbar vertebra,11 cases in thoracolumbar vertebra,4 cases in lumbosacral vertebra.11 cases showed neurological deficit before surgery,According to the Frankel classification,Frankel B in 1 case,Frankel C in 2,Frankel D in 8.The preoperative average Cobb angle of kyphosis was 35° ±7°(range,26°-43°).The focal debridement,bone grafting and primary internal fixation were performed for all patients.Among these protocols,16 cases underwent one staged posterior spinal internal fixation and anterior focal debridement,bone grafting.11 cases had anterior spinal internal fixation with focal debridement and bone grafting.All patients received anti-TB chemotherapy before and after operation.Anti-TB chemotherapy protocols consisting of combinations of rifampin,isoniazid,ethambutol and streptomycin were administered for 3 months which including 3 weeks before the operation and 3 months after the operation,followed by rifampin,isoniazid and ethambutol for a total of 9 months.The clinical outcomes were evaluated according to the criteria designed by WU Qiqiu et al.Result:The average surgical time was 240 minutes(range,150-300min),with the average intraoperative blood loss of 1000ml(range,600-1400ml),There was no complication such as nerve injury and cerebrospinal fluid leakage.The incision in 1 case presented sinus which had a secondary healing later on,others obtained primary healing.The average postoperative Cobb angle of kyphosis was 15°±5°(range,12°-20°).All cases were followed up for an average of 18 months(range,14-48 months).The patients with paraplegia recovered to the normal in 8 months.Bony fusion was achieved in all cases with mean fusion period of 7 months(range,5-14 months)with no incidence of hardware failure.At the final follow-up,all patients had evidence of clinical heal and the solid bony fusion.Conclusion:Focal debridement,bone grafting and primary internal fixation is reliable in dealing with multi-level spinal tuberculosis.