Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic pulmonary infectious disease which is caused in humans primarily by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and, more rarely, by M. bovis [1]. Numerous studies have found favourable safety and efficacy profiles in early outcome of both surgery and non-operative (NO) management for spinal TB, but reported studies that focus on long-term outcome in our healthcare system are rare. Our study aimed to highlight the sociodemographic features and long-term clinical and radiological outcome of patients with spinal TB treated operatively (O) and NO.

Materials and Methods: Two groups of patients diagnosed with spinal TB treated either (O) or (NO) were followed up retrospectively for 10 years from January 2009 to December 2018. Forty-three patients treated NO were included from the Rheumatology department, while 44 surgical patients from neurosurgery department. Patients of all ages diagnosed with spinal TB were included based on clinical findings and imaging. American Spinal injury Association (ASIA) scoring was used for assessing overall muscle strength and sensory functions. Vertebral bone injury, cold abscesses and spinal deformity were assessed in both groups. Followed-up (FU) occurred in 3 periods, the first period from 1 to 3 months followed by 3 months to 5 years and 5 to 10 years.

Results: The mean age was 42 ± 0.15 and 44 ± 0.70, respectively in conservative groups (CG) and surgical group (SG). Sex ratios consisted of 1.04 and 1.58, respectively in CG and SG. Motor functions improvement was more pronounced in SG, thus 17 patients (39.5%) showed improvement compared to 13 patients (31%) in CG, statistically significant (P=0.436).

Conclusion: Demographics trended likewise the literature. At final FU, both groups showed improvement in neurological status, but surgery patients were more likely to demonstrate greater correction of spinal kyphosis deformity than the CG (P=2.43).