Surgical management of spinal tuberculosis associated with neural compression

ABSTRACT

Twenty patients with spinal tuberculosis with neural compression were treated surgically. Two groups of patients were compared those treated by a modified anterolateral decompression, and those treated by laminectomy. Results suggest that the anterolateral approach is an adequate method for the treatment of dorsal and dorsolumbar tuberculosis. Chemotherapy and external fixation followed the surgical treatment for a duration of 18 months following surgery. Spontaneous fusion was achieved in 50% of these cases at the end of a two-year follow-up