Spinal Brucellosis from a Tertiary Care Hospital, South India

Spinal brucellosis is the most common osteoarticular complication of brucellosis. It can affect any part of the spine with or without neural involvement. The objective of this study was to identify the clinical ministrations, diagnostic measures and treatment modalities of adult patients with spinal brucellosis. The data were collected from medical records of spinal brucellosis. In three years, 107 patients were treated for brucellosis, of which 28 (26.17%) patients had spinal brucellosis. Backache (p=0.0001), feeling of mass or lump along the spine (p=0.0335), pain while walking (p=0.0204) and altered sensation of lower limb (p=0.0011) were the significant clinical manifestations. Other symptoms were fever (75%), weight loss (42.86%) and night sweats (35.71%). Type 2 Diabetes mellitus was identified as a co-morbidity (p=0.0187). Nineteen patients had abnormal magnetic resonance imaging and lumbar (L4-L5) vertebrae were the most commonly infected area. Patients have received symptomatic management along with appropriate antibiotics.