Early Surgical Intervention for Active Thoracic Spinal Tuberculosis with Paraparesis and Paraplegia

Abstract Background: To explore the therapeutic effect of early surgical interventions for patients of active thoracic spinal tuberculosis (TB) with paraparesis and paraplegia.Methods: Data of 118 patients with active thoracic spinal TB and paraparesis and paraplegia who had undergone surgeries at an early stage (within three weeks of paraparesis and paraplegia) from January 2008 to December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The operation duration, blood loss, perioperative complication rate, VAS score, ASIA grade of neurological status, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), kyphotic Cobb’s angle, and duration of bone graft fusion were analyzed to evaluate the therapeutic effects.Results: Mean operation time was 194.2 minutes, mean blood loss was 871.2 ml. The perioperative complication rate was 5.1%. Mean preoperative VAS score was 5.3, significantly decreased to 3.2 after operation, and continued decreasing to 1.1 at the follow up (P＜0.05). All cases achieved at least one grade elevation after operation, specifically, 2 cases of ASIA grade A rose to grade B, 10 cases of ASIA grade A rose to grade C, 2 cases of ASIA grade A rose to grade E; 9 cases of ASIA grade B rose to grade D, 38 cases of ASIA grade B rose to grade E; all 57 cases of ASIA grade C rose to ASIA grade E. The rate of full neurological recovery for patients with paraplegia was 14.3%, significantly lower than the rate (91.3%) for patients with paraparesis. Mean preoperative ESR and CRP were 73.1 mm /h and 82.4 mg/L, insignificantly increased after operation (P＞0.05), then gradually decreased to 11.5 ± 1.8 mm /h and 2.6 ± 0.82 mg/L at the final follow up, respectively (P＜0.05). The mean preoperative kyphotic Cobb’s angle was 21.9º, significantly decreased to 6.5º after operation (P＜0.05) and the kyphotic correction had not lost during the follow up (P＞0.05). Mean duration of bone graft fusion was 8.6±1.3 monthsConclusion: Early surgical intervention may be beneficial for patients with active thoracic spinal TB and paraparesis or paraplegia, with surgical intervention being more beneficial for paraparesis recovery compared with paraplegia recovery.