A rare presentation of TB: Osteomyelitis of distal ulna

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health issue in both developing and developed countries such as the UK. Healthy individuals who contract the infection have only 5-10% chance of converting to the active disease over their lifetime. We present the clinical history of a 76 year old female who attended the emergency department complaining of wrist pain, and was only diagnosed with TB after three years. This case report emphasises the importance of including TB in the differential diagnosis when treating patients with an infection resistant to conventional antibiotics, even though risk factors for TB may not be evident or special stains for TB are negative.