A rare case of smear positive tuberculous arthritis

TB arthritis is a very rare extrapulmonary presentation in an immunocompetent host. It is usually the result of direct hematogenous spread from the primary focus. Our patient presented with pain and swelling of the right knee for 6 months. The blood investigations and CT chest revealed findings consistent with active tuberculosis. Synovial fluid was positive for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) which is a very rare finding. Cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) revealed Mycobacterium tuberculosis and sensitivity to rifampicin. Establishing the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis beyond doubt is very important, and early initiation of antitubercular treatment (ATT) is important as delay in treatment may lead to irreversible damage to the joint and restriction of joint mobility.

A three-year single center quality of life study among adult patients with tuberculosis arthritis who underwent surgery

Background@#Tuberculosis arthritis is a type of extrapulmonary manifestation of tuberculosis (TB) and can be seen in many clinical forms, especially in developing countries.@*Aims@#This study will look into the quality of life (QoL) of patients who were diagnosed with tuberculous arthropathy of the extremity and underwent surgery at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital (USTH) from January 2014 to December 2016 using the Tagalog SF – 36 questionnaire.@*Methods@#All patients who underwent surgery for TB arthropathy at USTH for three years were included. The Tagalog SF – 36 questionnaire was administered to the patients during follow-up to assess the QoL scores. A detailed evaluation of the questions was performed to depict any pattern on specii c areas that affect the QoL of patients.@*Results@#Patients who underwent surgery scored high for role emotional (mean 93.33) and lowest on the bodily pain scale (mean 69.2). Higher physical component scores (PCS) were noted in patients who underwent surgery in 2014 compared to 2015 and 2016. Higher mental component scores (MCS) scores were also noted in patients operated in 2014 compared to 2015 and 2016. All patients have good QoL scores after surgery and complete medical treatment as demonstrated by the SF-36 scores. Tuberculous arthropathy can affect the physical and mental aspects of patients. No signii cant difference in mean scores by year were seen in all the scales of the SF-36 (p = >0.05).@*Conclusion@#All patients have good QoL scores after surgery and complete medical treatment as demonstrated by the SF-36 scores. QoL scores showed more improvement as the duration post-treatment is longer.