Is nonstructural bone graft useful in surgical treatment of lumbar spinal tuberculosis?: A retrospective case-control study

Surgical intervention is an important option for treating spinal tuberculosis. Previous studies have reported different surgical procedures and bone grafts for it. To our knowledge, few studies demonstrated the clinical results of using nonstructural autogenous bone graft in surgical treatment of spinal tuberculosis.The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical outcomes of surgical management lumbar spinal tuberculosis by one-stage posterior debridement with nonstructural autogenous bone grafting and instrumentation versus anterior debridement, strut bone grafting combined with posterior instrumentation.A total of 58 consecutive patients who underwent surgical treatment due to lumbar spinal tuberculosis from January 2011 to December 2013 were included. A total of 22 patients underwent one-stage posterior debridement, nonstructural autogenous bone grafting, and instrumentation (group A), and 36 patients received anterior debridement, strut bone grafting combined with posterior instrumentation (group B). The operative duration, total blood loss, perioperative transfusion, length of hospital stay, hospitalization cost, and complications were recorded. The bony fusion of the graft was assessed by computed tomography scans. American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale was used to evaluate the neurological function of patients in the 2 groups.All the patients were followed up, with a mean follow-up duration of 21.65.7 months in group A and 22.3 +/- 6.2 months in group B (P=0.47). The average operative duration was 257.5 +/- 91.1 minutes in group A and 335.7 +/- 91.0 minutes in group B (P=0.002). The mean total blood loss was 769.6 +/- 150.9mL in group A and 1048.6 +/- 556.9mL in group B (P=0.007). Also, significant differences were found between the 2 groups in perioperative transfusion volumes, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization cost (P<0.05), which were less in group A compared with group B. Patients with ASIA grade C/D in the 2 groups were improved with 1 to 2 grades after the surgery with no statistical difference (P=1.000). The perioperative complications rate was 9.1% (2/22) in group A and 13.9% (5/36) in group B (P=0.897).Based on a retrospective study, the procedure of one-stage posterior debridement, nonstructural autogenous bone grafting, and instrumentation has a significant shorter operative duration, lower blood loss and perioperative transfusion, shorter hospital stay, and less hospitalization cost compared with the one of anterior debridement, strut bone grafting combined with posterior instrumentation for treating lumber spinal tuberculosis.