Tuberculosis of bones and joints is particularly common in children where the growth plates are still open for bone growth. TB bacteria find it easy to infect the ends of the blood vessel rich long bones.
The end plates of the vertebral bones are also often involved, a condition called “Pott’s disease”.
The danger here is that the vertebral bodies will collapse when the bone adjacent to the discs is replaced by caseous material, which has no strength.
This can result in paraplegia. However, there are symptoms of bone pain, which warn the patient, the parents and the physician that there is something sinister going on.
At this stage a CT or MRI scan should be done, which will show the suspicious tuberculous lesion.
An orthopedic surgeon should be consulted who can make the diagnosis with a needle biopsy or a laparoscopic biopsy. If there is no paraplegia, then multi-drug antituberculous therapy is given while a stabilizing well fitting spinal brace supports the spine during the healing process. Joints can also be affected through spread into the articular capsule. Weight bearing joints are often involved.
Tuberculosis Of Bones And Joints (Pott’s Disease)
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