CASE REPORTS   

Chirurgia 2010 August;23(4):135-7

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Tuberculosis of the spine presenting with a cold abscess fistulized through the skin

Cakir M. ¹, Cakir Z. ², Ozsoy K. M. ¹, Malcok U. A. ³, Kamaci U. ¹

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Regional Research and Training Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey 2 Department of Emergency Medicine, Atatürk University, School of Medicine, Erzurum, Turkey 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Private Konak Hospital, Izmit, Turkey

Due to the increase in drug resistance and diseases suppressing the immune system in recent years, like all tuberculosis cases, vertebral tuberculosis patients are also more commonly encountered. In vertebral tuberculosis, early diagnosis and an energetic treatment regimen are necessary to prevent permanent sequelae owing to destructive lesions. However, due to its insidious course, the non-specific disease picture and the low clinical suspicion, generally there is a serious time failure between the presentation and diagnosis in these cases. We aimed to review the literature on Pott disease with this case report diagnosed with vertebral tuberculosis that had fistulized to the skin in an unusual way and healed without any sequelae through an accurate diagnosis and treatment.