Evaluation of Bone and Joint Involvement in Patients Followed with the Diagnosis of Brucellosis

Aim: Brucellosis is an important problem all over the world. The most common form is bone-joint involvement. In this study, we planned to reveal our experiences by examining the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and radiological features of brucellosis cases with and without bone-joint involvement. Material and Methods: This retrospective clinical study includes the data of 443 patients who were followed up with the diagnosis of brucellosis between December 2014 and August 2019. The epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and radiological findings of the patients were obtained from the patient files and hospital database. Patients were divided into two groups as with and without bone-joint involvement and their data were compared statistically. Results: A total of 443 patients who were followed up with a diagnosis of brucellosis were included in the study. 92 (20.8%) of these patients had bone-joint involvement of brucellosis (sacroileitis, spondylodiscitis, arthritis, bursitis, synovitis). Magnetic resonance imaging method was used for diagnosis in patients with bone-joint involvement. Patients with bone-joint involvement had longer duration of complaints, and acute phase reactants and agglutination titers were higher. Conclusion: Bone-joint involvement in brucellosis is very important as it may cause inadequate treatment and may end with sequelae. Radiological imaging is important in the diagnosis of bone-joint involvement, but unnecessary requests should also be avoided. Symptom duration, acute phase reactants, agglutination titer may be guiding for this.