Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Feb 18, 2019; 10(2): 54-62
Published online Feb 18, 2019. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v10.i2.54
Osteoarticular manifestations of human brucellosis: A review
Seyed Mokhtar Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, Seyed Mohammad Reza Esmaeilnejad-Ganji
Seyed Mokhtar Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, Clinical Research Development Center, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol 47176-47745, Iran
Seyed Mokhtar Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, Department of Orthopedics, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol 47176-47745, Iran
Seyed Mokhtar Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol 47176-47745, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Reza Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, United States
Author contributions: Esmaeilnejad-Ganji SM contributed to study design; Esmaeilnejad-Ganji SM and Esmaeilnejad-Ganji SMR contributed to data collection and writing the draft; Esmaeilnejad-Ganji SM contributed to manuscript revision; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Seyed Mokhtar Esmaeilnejad-Ganji, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedics, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Ganjafrooz Street, Babol 47176-47745, Mazandaran, Iran. smsnganji@yahoo.com
Telephone: +98-11-32199936 Fax: +98-11-32190181
Received: November 14, 2018
Peer-review started: November 15, 2018
First decision: November 29, 2018
Revised: November 30, 2018
Accepted: December 17, 2018
Article in press: December 17, 2018
Published online: February 18, 2019
Processing time: 96 Days and 15.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The most frequent complication of brucellosis is osteoarticular involvement, with a rate of 10%-85%. Sacroiliac and spinal joints are the most common affected sites. Spondylitis and spondylodiscitis are the most frequent complications of brucellar spinal involvement. Peripheral arthritis, osteomyelitis, discitis, bursitis and tenosynovitis are other osteoarticular manifestations. Epidural abscess is a rare complication of spinal brucellosis but can lead to permanent neurological deficits or even death if not treated promptly. Spondylodiscitis is the most severe form of osteoarticular involvement by brucellosis. Brucellosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis for sciatica, back pain and septic arthritis in endemic regions.