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Conservative treatment of tuberculosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine in adults and children

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Summary

We have treated 75 cases of spinal tuberculosis with chemotherapy as outpatients. The drugs used were INH, rifampicin and ethambutol for the 48 adults, and INH, rifampicin and PAS for the 27 children. No operations, apart from the evacuation of large abscesses, were carried out. Every patient was followed up for at least three years and the outcome was judged to be favourable in 95%. This is better than in some series in which radical surgery has been used. Although we recognize the advantages of operation in certain circumstances, we believe that our conservative regimen can be confidently recommended for use in less privileged countries, where adequate facilities for hospital treatment may not be available.

Résumé

Nous avons traité médicalement, en malades externes, 75 cas de tuberculose rachidienne. Les médicaments utilisés ont été INH, Rifampicine et Ethambutol chez les 48 adultes, et INH, Rifampicine et PAS chez les 27 enfants. Aucune intervention, hormis l'évacuation d'abcès volumineux, n'a été réalisée. Tous les malades ont été suivis au moins trois ans et le résultat a été jugé bon dans 95% des cas. Ceci est meilleur que certaines séries où l'on a eu recours à une chirurgie radicale. Bien que nous reconnaissions les avantages du traitement chirurgical dans certains cas, nous pensons que notre traitement conservateur peut être recommandé en toute confiance dans les pays tels que la Corée qui ne disposent pas des moyens nécessaires pour soigner ces malades en milieu hospitalier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kang-Nam St-Mary's Hospital, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea

    M. -S. Moon, I. Kim, Y. -K. Woo & Y. -O. Park

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  1. M. -S. Moon
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  2. I. Kim
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  3. Y. -K. Woo
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  4. Y. -O. Park
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Moon, M.S., Kim, I., Woo, Y.K. et al. Conservative treatment of tuberculosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine in adults and children. International Orthopaedics 11, 315–322 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00271307

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