Evaluation of musculoskeletal complications in the patients with brucellosis

One of the most common complications of brucellosis is its skeletal manifestations. This study was performed to identify the different types of skeletal manifestations in the patients with  brucellosis.

We reviewed records of the patients with skeletal complications of brucellosis who had been admitted to the infectious diseases ward of Razi Hospital in Qaemshahr from 2011 to 2017. Using SPSS 21 software, data were analyzed by t-test and chi-square (p≥0.001).

In 300 patients with brucellosis, the most frequent cause of referring to the hospital was fever (82.33%). The most, common skeletal complication was lumbar spondylosis. The mean value for hemoglobin was 11.50±1.57 gr/dl in women and 12.34± 1.54 gr/dl in men. Elevated alkaline phosphatase (97%) was the most common laboratory finding. This disease was more common in men than in women which showed a statistically significant difference (p≥0.001). The mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 52.78±29.15 millimeters per hour in the women (p≥0.001).

Fever and back pain were the most common causes of referring to the hospital. The most common articular bone complication was spondylosis, which was more common in the middle-aged patients. Therefore, brucellosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in the patients with long-standing fever and also in those with low back pain and arthralgia.