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We report a case of a 33-year-old woman from Nepal who presented to a hospital with paraplegia. She was found to have pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) with lumbar spine involvement, and bilateral psoas abscesses. She had no initial symptoms attributable to pulmonary involvement. Her delayed presentation to the hospital led to complication of TB spine, which compromised the life of this woman working as a labourer. Early diagnosis and treatment of extrapulmonary TB is essential. Awareness regarding symptoms of different forms of extrapulmonary TB and making diagnostic modalities such as CT scan, MRI or biopsy readily available through insurance schemes are some important measures to minimise the problem so that complications like paraplegia as in our patient with spinal TB can potentially be avoided.

Original publication

DOI

10.1136/bcr-2018-226098

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMJ case reports

Publication Date

19/12/2018

Volume

11

Addresses

Department of Internal Medicine, Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Keywords

Lumbosacral Region, Humans, Tuberculosis, Spinal, Tuberculosis, Pulmonary, Psoas Abscess, Alcoholism, Antitubercular Agents, Laminectomy, Adult, Nepal, Female, Delayed Diagnosis