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History of spine surgery for tuberculous spondylodiscitis

Geschichte der Wirbelsäulenchirurgie bei tuberkulöser Spondylodiszitis

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Abstract

For those stricken with tuberculosis, a disease that was present in ancient times, treatment was originally limited to conservative treatment including high altitude, fresh air, rest, and immobilization, manual reduction devices, and surgical procedures. Mortality and morbidity were high until the advent of antitubercular chemotherapy in the 1940s. Today multidrug regimen enable good disease clearance and also make direct surgical debridement without complications possible. Antitubercular drugs have reduced mortality by 72.5%. Surgical intervention is reserved for selected situations.

Zusammenfassung

Früher waren die Behandlungsmöglichkeiten für von Tuberkulose betroffene Menschen bis auf homöopathische Ansätze bzw. manuelle Apparaturen und operative Verfahren außerordentlich begrenzt, und bis zur Einführung der tuberkulostatischen Pharmaka in den 1940er-Jahren waren Morbidität wie Mortalität hoch. Inzwischen erzielen Mehrfach-Kombinationstherapien gute Heilungsraten und ermöglichen ein direktes chirurgisches Débridement ohne Komplikationen. Der Einsatz von Tuberkulostatika hat die Mortalität um 72,5% verringert, und chirurgische Interventionen bleiben ausgewählten klinischen Konstellationen vorbehalten.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Traumatology and Spine Surgery, Ganga Hospital, 313, Mettupalayam road, 641043, Coimbatore, India

    S. Rajasekaran MS (Ortho), MCh, FRCS, FACS, Ph D, R.M. Kanna & A.P. Shetty

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  1. S. Rajasekaran MS (Ortho), MCh, FRCS, FACS, Ph D
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  2. R.M. Kanna
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  3. A.P. Shetty
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Correspondence to S. Rajasekaran MS (Ortho), MCh, FRCS, FACS, Ph D.

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S. Rajasekaran, R.M. Kanna, and A.P. Shetty state that there are no conflicts of interest.

The accompanying manuscript does not include studies on humans or animals.

This article is part of a supplement sponsored by SIGNUS Medizintechnik GmbH.

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Rajasekaran, S., Kanna, R. & Shetty, A. History of spine surgery for tuberculous spondylodiscitis. Unfallchirurg 118 (Suppl 1), 19–27 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-015-0093-9

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