Table 4.
Therapeutic outcome of MDR spinal TB patients diagnosed using conventional culture and molecular diagnosis technology (n = 272)
| Characteristic | Overall | Culture methods | Molecular diagnosis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | |||
| Treatment with first-line drug regimen N (%) | 272 (100) | 188 (69) | 84 (31) |
| Mean days on first-line drug* | 81 [14–434 d] | 154 [73–434 d] | 24 [14–38 d] |
| Mean days until starting treatment using second-line drug* | 44 [2–102 d] | 74[54–102 d] | 6 [2–7 d] |
| Mean days in drug-susceptible sickroom* | 19 [3–59 d] | 35[17–59 d] | 5 [3–7 d] |
| Mean days of drug treatment prior to hospitalisation* | 49 [13–108 d] | 84 [16–367 d] | 18 [13–31 d] |
| Mean days until hospitalisation and starting second-line drug pharmacotherapy* (N = 138) # | 111 [31–365 d] | 128[31–365 d] | 75 [31–332 d] |
| Total days of hospitalisation* | 25 [11–59 d] | 34 [17–59 d] | 20 [11–34 d] |
| Required surgery* N (%) | 159 (58) | 114 (61) | 45 (54) |
| Recovered without need for surgery N | 8 | 0 | 8 |
MDR: multi-drug resistant; TB: tuberculosis.
#: n = 138: MDR spinal TB patients started extramural hospital treatment using first-line drugs before their drug susceptibility test results were known.
*P < 0.05. Comparison between the culture methods group and molecular diagnosis group.