Tuberculous osteomyelitis

Skeletal tuberculosis is known as an osteoarticular disease. It is rare to find a bony involvement sparing the joint. We treated 16 cases between 1991 to 2001. All patients had symptoms varying from 02 to 09 months. Six out of 14 were treated elsewhere as cases of pyogenic osteomyelitis by incision and drainage with non-healing wounds. Diagnosis in early stages is difficult. Conventional radiography may be deceptive in early stages and CT or MRI may be required in the diagnosis of difficult cases. Biopsy is mandatory to confirm the diagnosis. This should be done inform of judicious curettage of the affected tissue, which not only confirms the diagnosis but also aids in early healing due to the evacuation of the necrotic tissue