Abstract: Objective To evaluate the quality of life for tuberculosis patients after anterior debridement, autograft bone fusion and anterolateral fixation operation. Methods 17 cases of thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis were treated surgically from January 2008 to March 2011. All the cases underwent anterior debridement, autograft bone fusion and anterolateral fixation operation. MOS health survey 36-item Short Form (SF-36), Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores (JOA) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the quality of life, spine function and pain symptom before and 1 and 6 months after surgery. Results Compared to the results 1 month after surgery, the scores of physical function (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social function (SF), role emotional (RE), and mental health (MH), and JOA subjective symptoms, JOA clinical signs, and JOA daily activity limitation, and VAS improved (P<0.05) 6 months after surgery; compared to pretreatment, the scores of PF, BP, GH, VT, SF, and MH, and JOA subjective symptoms, JOA clinical signs, and JOA daily activity limitation, and VAS improved (P<0.05). Conclusion The anterior debridement, autograft bone fusion and anterior fixation operation is effective to improve the quality of life, spine function and pain symptom for tuberculosis patients.

Key words: spine, tuberculosis, quality of life, pain