Osteotomized debridement versus curetted debridement in posterior approach in treating thoracolumbar tuberculosis: a comparative study

Purpose This study aimed to compare osteotomized debridement (OD) with traditional curetted debridement (CD) in treating thoracolumbar tuberculosis (TB). Methods A total of 188 patients were diagnosed with active thoracolumbar TB and underwent one-stage posterior surgery at our institution. Of the 188 patients, 85 patients were treated with OD, and 103 patients were treated with traditional CD. The patient information, laboratory results, imaging findings, and clinical effectiveness were, respectively, compared between the two groups. Results Group OD consumed less operation time and blood loss than group CD ( P 0.05). The values of C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in both groups returned to the normal range within one month postoperatively. All patients had significant improvement in visual analog scale (VAS) and oswestry disability index (ODI) postoperatively. The mean fusion time in group OD was shorter than that in group CD ( P 0.05), but group OD showed less correction loss than group CD at the final follow-up ( P