• Hong-Qi Zhang, Min-Zhong Lin, Hu-Bing Guo, Lei Ge, Jian-Huang Wu, and Jin-Yang Liu.
• Department of Spine Surgery, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, ChangSha 410008, China. zhq9996@163.com
• Eur Spine J. 2013 Jan 1;22(1):72-8.

PurposeTo evaluate the clinical study efficacy and feasibility of 11 children with tuberculosis of the upper cervical spine treated by one-stage posterior debridement, short-segment fusion, and posterior instrumentation.MethodsEleven children who suffered from tuberculosis of the upper cervical spine were admitted to our hospital between June 2005 and December 2010. All of them were treated by one-stage posterior debridement, short-segment fusion, and posterior instrumentation. Then, the clinical efficacy was evaluated using statistical analysis based on the materials about the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of pain, JOA scores of nerve function and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), which were collected at certain time.ResultsThe average follow-up period was 28.1 ± 10.5 months (13-42 months). In the 11 cases, no postoperative complications related to instrumentation occurred and neurologic function was improved in various degrees. The average pretreatment ESR was 58.4 ± 4.9 mm/h (53-69 mm/h), which got normal (8.9 ± 6.5 mm/h) within 3 months in all patients. The average preoperative VAS was 7.4 ± 2.2, which decreased to 1.6 ± 1.8 postoperatively. Mean preoperative JOA was 11.2 ± 3.8, and the JOA at the last visit was 16.3 ± 1.0. All patients got bony fusion within 3-8 months after surgery.ConclusionsOne-stage posterior debridement, short-segment fusion, and posterior instrumentation can be an effective treatment method for the treatment of tuberculosis of the upper cervical spine in children.

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