Tuberculous arthritis

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Granulomatous arthritis

The goal of treatment is to cure the infection with drugs that fight the TB bacteria. Treatment of active TB will always involve a combination of many drugs (usually four drugs). All of the drugs are continued until lab tests show which medicines work best.

The most commonly used drugs include:

• Isoniazid
• Rifampin
• Pyrazinamide
• Ethambutol

Other drugs that may be used to treat TB include:

• Amikacin
• Ethionamide
• Moxifloxacin
• Para-aminosalicylic acid
• Streptomycin

You may need to take many different pills at different times of the day for 6 months or longer. It is very important that you take the pills the way your health care provider instructed.

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Your doctor or nurse is required by law to report your TB illness to the local health department. Your health care team will be sure that you receive the best care for your TB.

Taking painkillers and applying heat or cold to the joints may relieve pain. Surgery may be needed, especially to drain spinal abscesses or to stabilize the spine. Surgery is rarely needed for infections at other sites.

This form of arthritis can be very destructive to the tissues. Controlling the infection should prevent more joints from becoming involved. However, joint destruction may take place before the infection is controlled.

• Collapse of the vertebrae, resulting in kyphosis
• Joint destruction
• Nerve compression
• Spinal cord compression

Call your health care provider if you have symptoms of this disorder, or of tuberculosis.

Review Date: 12/07/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, PhD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).