Tuberculosis Involving the Hip

Abstract

Hip tuberculosis occurs secondary to a primary focus elsewhere in the body. Classically it passes through three stages: (1) ‘the stage of synovitis’, (2) ‘stage of arthritis’, and (3) ‘stage of subluxation’ or ‘travelling acetabulum’. There are various morphological subtypes that correlate to outcome. They keys are early suspicion and histological diagnosis of directly sampled tissue, with the mainstay of treatment being medical (chemotherapeutic). This approach maximises outcomes and minimises surgery more extensive than that required for biopsy.