Is Restoration of Sagittal Spinopelvic Parameters Necessary in Spinal Tuberculosis of Lumbar and Lumbosacral Spine? Conservative versus Operative Management

Background The relationship of spinopelvic parameters with spondylolisthesis is widely explored. However, there is scarce evidence on correlation of tuberculosis of lumbar spine with respect to spinopelvic harmony. The current study aims to find the association between functional outcomes and spinopelvic parameters in lumbar spine tuberculosis treatment. Methods A total of 47 patients with active tuberculosis confined to lumbar spine were prospectively analyzed and divided into 2 groups according to mode of intervention. Group A included 26 operatively managed patients and group B had 21 conservatively managed cases. Functional parameters comprising Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) along with spinopelvic radiologic parameters (pelvic incidence [PI], pelvic tilt [PT], sacral slope [SS], lumbar lordosis [LL], PI-LL, sagittal vertical axis) in both groups were analyzed at 0 and 6 months of follow-up. Results Both the groups showed significant improvement from initial presentation to final follow-up in ODI (Group A: 85.4 ± 12.1-12.3 ± 3.2, P = 0.02; Group B: 82.5 ± 10.06-36.8 ± 11.9, P = 0.04) and VAS (Group A: 8.1 ± 1.2-1.4 ± 0.9, P = 0.02; Group B: 8.5 ± 0.09-3.5 ± 1.1, P = 0.02). Statistically significant (P 0.05) at presentation. Better improvements of spinopelvic parameters of PT, SS, LL, PI-LL were observed in Group A and in both groups the difference of these parameters correlated with differences of functional outcome parameters, though PI showed no correlation. Conclusions The spinopelvic parameters played significant role in functional outcome. There is better functional outcome when LL is adequately restored. Surgical correction offered betterment of spinopelvic parameters like PT, SS, an sagittal vertical axis, which in turn leads to improvement in functional outcome.