All issues > Volume 17(10); 1974

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1974;17(10):672-682. Published online October 31, 1974.

A Clinical Study of the Bone and Joint Tuberculosis in Children

Sun Woo Koo¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Chonnam National University Medical School Kwangju, Korea,

Abstract

I have summerized the 303 children with the bone and joint tuberculosis who were hospitalized and controlled at Mokpo Children’s Tuberculosis Hospital during the period of 10 years and 6months from Jan. 1962 to June 1972. The result were obtained as follows; 1) The bone and joint tuberculosis was 14.1% out of total tuberculous children during the above period. 2) The high incidence of age was between 1 and 6 years, which was 54. 8% out of the total patients. Boys were affected more than girs; the ratio of male to femal was 1.35 : 1. 3) The majority of involved sites was found in the spine which was 73. 6% (223 cases) out of the total bone and joint tuberculosis, the lesser common sites were hip, 17. 8% (54)； Knee, 3.3% (10) ； humerus, 1.0% (3); rib, 1.0% (3); etc. 4) The chief complaints on admission were vertebral bending (26. 5%) warking and or standing disturbance (17.5%) and fever (10.7%), although these were different according to the involved :sites. The paralysis of the lower extremities, one of the seirou complications of the spine tuberculosis, was 5.4%. 5) The vertebral lesions were observed at the level of the 2nd cervical to the 3rd sacral spine and the lesions were mainly located on the lower thoracic and the lumbar vertebrae. 6) 95% of the cases revealed strong positive Mantoux test with 18.9 mm in diameter of induration. 7) 21.1% of the cases had a probable source of infection in the family, and father was found to be most common. 8) Various kinds of complication and associated lesion in the bone and joint tuberculosis were found in 84. 3% of the total cases, and pulmonary tuberculosis (43. 0%) was most common and the next was cold abscess (18. 0%). 9) In 17 cases (43. 6%) out of 39 cases, AFB was found by cultures of discharge from fistula. 10) Treatment was done with INH, PAS and SM. The average duration of treatment was 29 months and 20 days with the range of 1 year and 3 months to 6 years and 6 months. The average abilizing period of the involved bone and joint on X-ray was 9 months and 20 days after beginning of treatment. 10 out of 190 cases, 5. was found to be relapse within 1 to 3 years after treatment finished.

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