<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the outcomes of surgical operation by posterior or anterior approach only for thoracolumbar tuberculosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 97 patients with thoracolumbar tuberculosis underwent debridement and internal fixation from January 2005 to December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The study included 59 males and 38 females, with a mean age of 53.7 years ranged from 20 to 68 years. The course of disease was from 1 to 13 months with an average of (6.9±2.3) months. Among these patients, 43 cases were treated through one-stage anterior approach (anterior approach group) and 54 cases were treated through posterior approach (posterior approach group). The clinical data and imaging data of 97 cases were analyzed, including the operation time, intraoperative and postoperative blood loss, postoperative hospitalization time, complications, visual analogue scale(VAS), Oswestry Disability Index(ODI), Frankle grade, bone fusion time, and corrective rate of Cobb angle.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Operation time, intraoperative and postoperative blood loss, postoperative hospitalization time, complication rate, and corrective rate of Cobb angle were(174.4±9.9) min, (885.0±95.7) ml, (103.2±11.5) ml, (15.1±0.7) d, 9.3%, (73.4±3.2)% in posterior group respectively, while in anterior approach group were(229.5±15.2) min, (1326.0±113.5) ml, (153.2±16.7) ml, (19.0±0.8) d, 16.3%, (62.3±2.5)%, respectively, and there was significant difference between two groups. There was no significant difference in graft bone fusion between two groups. Postoperative VAS, ODI, Frankel grade of all patients were obviously improved, but there was no significant difference between two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Thoracolumbar tuberculosis could be cured by one-stage anterior or posterior approach with debridement, bone grafting and internal fixation, but posterior approach has advantages of less trauma and better deformity correction.</p>