Abdominal tuberculosis: a retrospective review of cases presenting to a UK district hospital

Abstract

ATB is a diagnostic challenge, especially in absence of lung involvement. It mimics other diseases and clinical presentation is usually non-specific, which may lead to diagnostic delay and development of complications. Extreme vigilance should be used when dealing with unexplained abdominal symptoms to ensure timely diagnosis of ATB. Early diagnosis with early anti-tuberculous therapy and surgical treatment are essential to ensure as positive an outcome as possible.

Spectrum of Abdominal Tuberculosis and its Manifestations in a Tertiary Care Centre- A Cross Sectional Study

“…(12) This is consistent with the increased health seeking behaviour amongst males in our country. There were mostly young adults as seen in most studies (10,11,13).…”

“…This is similar to other studies. (9)(10)(11) However some European studies found equal preponderance among both genders. (12) This is consistent with the increased health seeking behaviour amongst males in our country.…”

“…More than half of our patients had mild anaemia as found in many other studies. (10,12) The anaemia is multifactorial and may occur due to combinations of anaemia of chronic disease, blood loss from the intestine, malabsorption and malnutrition. This explains the absence of correlation between the type of ATB and anaemia.…”

“…This is a finding similar to most studies. (10,14) This was followed by abdominal lymphadenopathy and peritoneal (plastic) TB. However lymphadenopathy was more common than peritoneal TB in some studies.…”

Clinical Presentation in a Series of Eight Children with Abdominal Tuberculosis: Experience of a Single-Center in Turkey

“…Diagnosis of abdominal TB in children is challenging due to nonspecific clinical features depending on host factors such as age and immunological status; and in most cases, pulmonary TB is absent making it difficult to establish the diagnosis (6,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Less than half of the patients can be diagnosed with abdominal TB when the only clinical presentation is abdominal complaint such as pain (3).…”