What happened?
A 17-year-old male with a long history of spinal tuberculosis presented with progressive lower-limb weakness and walking difficulty. Imaging showed T7–T9 vertebral body collapse and gibbus deformity with spinal cord compression; he underwent posterior decompression and fixation before physiotherapy.
Clinical findings
- History of Pott’s spine dating back to early childhood.
- Anterior wedge compression and resorption of T7, T8 and T9 vertebral bodies with thoracic gibbus deformity.
- Progressive bilateral lower-limb weakness and difficulty walking before surgery.
Rehabilitation described in the report
- Post-operative rehabilitation included progressively advanced mobility, balance and strengthening exercises.
- A major focus was sensorimotor skill retraining and activity-based relearning in supine, side-lying, sitting and standing, alongside conventional rehabilitation.
Reported outcomes
- The authors report improved functional status and quality of life following surgery and the activity-based rehabilitation programme.
- The abstract does not provide numerical outcome values, so no specific score change is inferred.
Clinical lessons to consider
- Spinal tuberculosis with deformity and cord compression requires medical and surgical management before rehabilitation progression.
- After stabilisation, graded task practice can be organised around the patient's neurological level and functional goals.
- Progression must respect surgical precautions and neurological status.
Limitations — what this case cannot tell us
- Single case report; improvement cannot be attributed to neuroplasticity-focused training alone.
- The accessible abstract does not provide sufficient numerical data to quantify the rehabilitation effect.
Original source
Raveena Kini, Prachita Walankar, Aman Minocha et al.. “Neuroplasticity and Activity-Based Rehabilitation of a Patient With Post-Surgical Chronic Pott’s Spine: A Case Report.” Bulletin of Faculty of Physical Therapy, 2025. DOI: 10.1186/s43161-025-00269-z
View the original publicationThis page is an independently written educational summary, not a reproduction of the full paper. Check the original article for complete methods, outcome tables, references and licensing.