Tuberculosis is a very common condition affecting people living in Asia. Also, the number of cases of people with tuberculosis having spine involvement have increased over the years. The most serious form of bone tuberculosis is the tuberculosis of spine. It falls under the group of joint and bone tuberculosis; beginning in the vertebral body, the TB infection spreads to the intervertebral disc and adjacent vertebrae. Spinal TB treatment at early stage is very important to prevent serious complications.
Spinal TB can cause various conditions like cold abscess or pus formation, narrowing of spinal canal by abscess, direct dural invasion which results in compression of spinal cord, neurological deficits and progressive destruction of bone resulting in vertebral collapse and kyphosis (abnormal curvature of the spine). The serious form of Spinal TB can even lead to paralysis by causing pressure on the sensitive spinal cord.
People suffering from spinal TB show a number of symptoms like severe or moderate back ache, inability to move freely, inability to bend forward, Back spasm, tingling or current like feeling along the legs, sudden sweating at night, loss in weight, constitutional symptoms, (symptoms impacting various systems of the body), etc. The neck pain and back pain aggravates on sitting, standing and any other movement. Neurologic symptoms or weakness may also appear, for instance, loss of control over urine, trouble in walking, lower limb tightness, loss of sensation in the limbs, complete paralysis etc.
Though poor socio-economic condition is a major risk factor, however people from affluent class are also at risk of getting infected with TB especially when their immunity to fight diseases goes down. Geographical areas of endemic TB and HIV infection are other risk factors that can be the causes of spinal TB. Hence, prevention of HIV infection is very important. In addition, there should be improvement in socio-economic conditions to avoid the risk of developing spinal TB due to poor nutritional status.
Anti tuberculosis drugs and medicines help a great deal in the recovery of patients suffering from spinal tuberculosis. Most of the patients show positive result and response to these drugs, and avail the spinal TB treatment at AUM Clinics, Dwarka and Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurugram from the best doctor for spinal TB, Dr. Arun Bhanot who is a renowned spine specialist.
In order to avoid further complications and stave off serious medical issues, early treatment is must, therefore, patients should not ignore the symptoms and get treated. Surgery is required in the cases when neurologic deficit does not show any improvement by anti-tubercular treatment. Surgical treatment by removing the pus and infected tissue and stabilising the weak spinal column using metal screws and rods supplemented with anti – TB medication, external bracing, etc is also recommended by the doctor in some of the cases.