Percutaneous trans ilio-sacral biopsy of the spine in sacral tuberculosis

Abstract

Spinal tuberculosis is the most common form of skeletal tuberculosis. Tuberculous involvement of the lower spine is rare. Sacral tuberculosis is very rare; most reported cases in the literature are case reports. Spinal tuberculosis may present atypically: neural arch involvement, skip lesions, sacral involvement, or as extradural tuberculosis. Diagnostic bone biopsy is an integral part of patient work-up. Patients may be infected by a variety of micro organisms, especially patients who are HIV positive or those who have AIDS. The gold standard technique for biopsy of the sacrum is CT-guided percutaneous biopsy. The technique has a very low complication rate in experienced hands. We describe a simple, safe and fast percutaneous biopsy technique we used to obtain biopsy of the upper sacrum. The details are stated in this report.