Lymph node dissection effectively shortens the course of anti-tuberculosis treatment

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of postoperative ultra-short-course chemotherapy in treating cervical lymph node tuberculosis in the Wuhan region. METHODS: Follow-up of patients in the surgery and non-surgery group after discharge, evaluating the number of cervical lymph nodes during the administration of antituberculosis drugs. RESULTS: The age of the patients in the surgical therapy group ranged from 6 to 83 years old with an average age of 45 and a standard deviation of 20. The number of cervical lymph nodes in the patients ranged from 1.61 to 8.15. The average antituberculosis treatment duration before surgery for patients in the surgical group was 98.02 days, while for patients in the non-surgical group it was 96.13 days. The average length of hospital stay for patients receiving surgical treatment was 12.76 days, while for patients receiving non-surgical treatment it was 8.74 days. The average antituberculosis treatment duration after discharge for patients in the surgical group was 205 days, with a standard deviation of 42.39, while for patients in the non-surgical group it was 372 days, with a standard deviation of 71.54. The T-test results for antituberculosis treatment during hospitalization and after discharge were 98.3x10-10 and 5.02x10-67, respectively. CONCLUSION: After surgical treatment of cervical lymph node tuberculosis, the effectiveness of a 4–6 month short-course chemotherapy in Wuhan region is not weaker than the effectiveness of a conventional 6–9 month drug treatment.