Abstracts
1998 Digestive Disease Week

#1062

ABDOMINAL TUBERCULOSIS. Ömer Alabaz, MD, Alper Akinoglu, MD. University of Çukurova, Department of General Surgery, Adana, Turkey.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical, surgery and pathologic features in patients with abdominal tuberculosis. 67 patients (aged 15 to 59 years) who underwent surgery for gastrointestinal tuberculous(49), peritoneal tuberculous(10), and tuberculous mesenteric lymphadenitis(8) were analyzed. The diagnosis was established at operation and by the appearance of caseating granuloma on histologic examination and isolation of the causative organism of the 67 patients, 24 had tuberculous peritonitis, 21 had tuberculous enteritis, and 8 tuberculous peritonitis and enteritis, and 6 had only tuberculous mesenteric lymphadenitis. The commonest presenting symptoms were abdominal swelling(79%), abdominal pain(55%), anorexia(44%), fever and night sweats(39%), and weight loss (38%). Twenty-nine patients had complications; bowel obstruction in 18, intestinal perforation in 5, bleeding in 4, and fistulas in 2. Tuberculin skin testing was positive in 55% of patients(n:45). 42 patients no associated pulmonary tuberculosis. There were 10(14%) operative deaths in our series, 4 of which occurred after emergency surgery for bowel perforation. Operative procedures included laparotomy with biopsy(26), resection of intestine(21), division of adhesion(8), intestinal bypass(7), and evacuation of mesenteric abscesses (5).

In conclusion, noninvasive procedures are helpful in the investigation of suspected cases but surgical intervention may be necessary when the diagnosis is in doubt

Copyright 1996 - 1998, SSAT, Inc. Revised 29 June 1998.