Pubic Symphysis Tuberculosis Recurrence - A Rare Case Report and Literature Review

Tuberculosis (TB) of pubic symphysis is an extremely uncommon condition accounting <1% of all musculoskeletal TB. Further recurrence of TB of symphysis pubis is a rare clinical scenario requiring a high level of suspicion for diagnosing the condition. Recurrence of tuberculosis can occur either be due to relapse of the original infection or reinfection due to exogenous Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain. There have only been nine case reports on TB of the pubic symphysis in the last three decades and only 40 patients were identified in English language medical literature so to the best of our knowledge this is the first case report on the recurrence of TB of pubic symphysis.

A 26-year-old female patient presented with pain over symphyseal area for 2 months. Laboratory and radiological investigations were suggestive of TB of symphysis pubis. She was started on oral, category I anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) from DOTS center. Patient on improvement in symptoms discontinued taking ATT after 6 months. About 7 months after stopping ATT, she again presented with pain over symphyseal area and difficulty in walking. Laboratory, radiological investigation, and biopsy were obtained to rule out multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. The patient improved on 12 months' oral daily ATT regime (HRZES2+HRZE4+HRE6). She was followed up for another 1 year with clinical examination and laboratory investigation after stopping ATT. At present, she is asymptomatic with no signs of recurrence after 1 year of completion of treatment.

ATT intake should be continued for 12 months for musculoskeletal TB for preventing recurrence. The biopsy needs to be taken from the affected region in recurrence TB to rule out MDR.