Tuberculous Paraplegia in Pregnancy Treated by Surgery

Harwant Singh, Jaspal Singh, Borhan Tan Abdullah, Alex Matthews
Correspondence: Harwant Singh, harws@pd.jaring.my

ABSTRACT
Tuberculous paraplegia in pregnancy is reported to be rare. Paraplegia due to tuberculosis has a good prognosis if surgical decompression and stabilisation are done early together with chemotherapy. Vaginal delivery is not contraindicated in pregnancy complicated by paraplegia, but is associated with problems related to the initiation and progression of labour. Performing spinal nursing on an unstable spine with a rapidly enlarging gravid uterus in the third trimester of pregnancy poses a significant challenge. We report successful simultaneous Caesarean section and surgical treatment of a paraplegic spine due to tuberculosis.

Keywords: spinal decompression, rib graft, Caesarean section, spinal fusion, Pott’s disease
Singapore Med J 2002; 43(5): 251-253