[Results of the surgical treatment of tuberculous spondylitis]

Between 1972 and 1992 91 patients with tuberculous spondylitis were treated in the orthopaedic departments of the Universities of Münster and Mainz. The age of the patients at the time of operation was 41 years and 7 months on the average. The tuberculous spondylitis was mostly located in the lower dorsal and upper lumbar spine. Indications for a surgical treatment were the acute spondylitis, the deformation of the spine and imminent or already existing neurological deficiencies. The number of removed vertebrae averaged between 2 and 7. For the ventral spondylodesis we mostly used iliac or tibial bone-grafts. The own results are discussed in relation to the literature, especially the different therapeutic regimes are regarded.