Extraspinal Tuberculosis of Bone and Joint

Recently, tuberculosis of bone and joint is decreased with good nutrition and environment, development of preventive medicine and improvement of treatment regimen. But it is still one of the common inflammatory diseases in Korea, and must be considered in the differential diagnosis of common orthopedic complaints. There are few reports on extraspinal tuberculosis of bone and joint. Forty one cases of extraspinal tuberculosis of bone and joint were studied in our department from January 1988 to August 1993. The results were as follows; l. Extraspinal tuberculosis of bone and joint were 41 cases (39 patients, 27.8% of 147 tuberculosis of bone and joint including spine). 2. The proportion of children and young adults was 56%, hips were involved in 11 cases, knee joints in 8 cases, ankle joints in 6 cases, feet in 6 cases and elbow joints in 5 cases. 3. Coexisting pulmonary tuberculosis was found in 19 patients and active lesion in 15 patients. 4. Confirmative diagnosis could be made by smear and culture of the lesion or pathologic findings or recently available polymerase chain reaction(PCR) method. 5. Various treatment, such as antituberculous medication, external immobilization, synovectomy, curettage and bone graft, arthrodesis, had been carried out. 6. Reactivation of other site was found in 7.3%(3 cases) and resistant tendency was found in 9.7%(4 cases).