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Rationale: Limited literatures are available on lower gastrointestinal bleeding in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) combined with intestinal tuberculosis. Sharing the treatment experiences of a 26-year-old female patient diagnosed with this complex condition in this report may contribute valuable insights., Patient Concerns: The patient initially presented with abdominal pain and active gastrointestinal bleeding, leading to admission to the hospital. Over a 2-week period, she experienced persistent bleeding, with daily volumes ranging from 300 mL to 800 mL., Diagnoses: Lower gastrointestinal bleeding was diagnosed in this patient with concurrent systemic lupus erythematosus and intestinal tuberculosis., Interventions: As her symptoms rapidly progressed, food and water intake had to be completely restricted. The parenteral nutrition was implemented., Outcomes: The medical team effectively controlled the bleeding, leading to a notable improvement in the patient's condition. Consequently, she was able to resume oral intake and was discharged from the hospital., Lessons: This case highlights the significance of using parenteral nutrition in the management of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with concurrent systemic lupus erythematosus and intestinal tuberculosis. Close monitoring and collaborative efforts among healthcare professionals are crucial to achieve successful outcomes in similar cases., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Abdominal tuberculosis is an ancient problem with modern nuances in diagnosis and management. The two major forms are tuberculous peritonitis and gastrointestinal tuberculosis (GITB), while the less frequent forms are esophageal, gastroduodenal, pancreatic, hepatic, gallbladder and biliary tuberculosis. The clinicians need to discriminate the disease from the close mimics: peritoneal carcinomatosis closely mimics peritoneal tuberculosis, while Crohn's disease closely mimics intestinal tuberculosis. Imaging modalities (ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and occasionally positron emission tomography) guide the line of evaluation. Research in diagnostics (imaging and endoscopy) has helped in the better acquisition of tissue for histological and microbiological tests. Although point-of-care polymerase chain reaction-based tests (e.g. Xpert Mtb/Rif) may provide a quick diagnosis, these have low sensitivity. In such situations, ancillary investigations such as ascitic adenosine deaminase and histological clues (granulomas, caseating necrosis, ulcers lined by histiocytes) may provide some specificity to the diagnosis. A diagnostic trial of antitubercular therapy (ATT) may be considered if all diagnostic armamentaria fail to clinch the diagnosis, especially in TB-endemic regions. Objective evaluation with clear endpoints of response is mandatory in such situations. Early mucosal response (healing of ulcers at two months) and resolution of ascites are objective criteria for early response assessment and should be sought at two months. Biomarkers, especially fecal calprotectin for intestinal tuberculosis, have also shown promise. For most forms of abdominal tuberculosis, six months of ATT is sufficient. Sequelae of GITB may require endoscopic balloon dilatation for intestinal strictures or surgical intervention for recurrent intestinal obstruction, perforation or massive bleeding., (© 2023. Indian Society of Gastroenterology.)

Differentiation between Crohn's disease and intestinal tuberculosis is difficult but crucial for medical decisions. This study aims to develop an effective framework to distinguish these two diseases through an explainable machine learning (ML) model. After feature selection, a total of nine variables are extracted, including intestinal surgery, abdominal, bloody stool, PPD, knot, ESAT-6, CFP-10, intestinal dilatation and comb sign. Besides, we compared the predictive performance of the ML methods with traditional statistical methods. This work also provides insights into the ML model's outcome through the SHAP method for the first time. A cohort consisting of 200 patients' data (CD = 160, ITB = 40) is used in training and validating models. Results illustrate that the XGBoost algorithm outperforms other classifiers in terms of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, precision and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), yielding values of 0.891, 0.813, 0.969, 0.867 and 0.801 respectively. More importantly, the prediction outcomes of XGBoost can be effectively explained through the SHAP method. The proposed framework proves that the effectiveness of distinguishing CD from ITB through interpretable machine learning, which can obtain a global explanation but also an explanation for individual patients., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Gastroduodenal tuberculosis is an uncommon form of abdominal tuberculosis., Areas Covered: We report our experience with five cases of gastroduodenal tuberculosis and present results of a systematic review on gastroduodenal tuberculosis regarding clinical presentation, endoscopic, imaging findings, and the diagnostic and therapeutic approach., Expert Opinion: The presentation of gastroduodenal tuberculosis is diverse and may include nonspecific abdominal pain or dyspepsia like symptoms apart from gastric outlet obstruction. Endoscopy may show presence of growth, ulcer, narrowing, or fistula on endoscopy. Endoscopic biopsy, well-biopsy, or mucosal resection of an elevated lesion are helpful. On microscopy, granuloma with or without acid fast bacilli positivity can be found. For treatment, standard antitubercular therapy should be given for 6 months. In patients with tight stricture, endoscopic balloon dilatation can be helpful. Surgery is reserved for patient with diagnostic dilemma, refractory stricture, or complications like perforation or fistula. Future research should focus on improving diagnosis with use of modern microbiological techniques like PCR and Xpert MTB/RIF.

A 22-year-old young woman presented with fever, lower abdominal pain and vomiting for 20 days. She had persistent fever and abdominal pain. Fever panel was negative. Clinical features were suggestive of subacute small bowel obstruction. Contrast-enhanced CT abdomen showed thickening of distal ileum, ileocaecal junction and caecum with conglomerate necrotic nodal mass in the ileocolic mesentry along with a lesion in the tail of pancreas. Patient was discussed with multidisciplinary team and decided to undergo a single-stage procedure after adequate nutritional optimisation. During optimisation, she underwent acute obstruction and hence taken up for emergency laparotomy proceeded to right haemicolectomy with distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy 4 weeks after the time of admission. Histopathology showed ileocaecal tuberculosis and solid pseudopapillary tumour with margins free of tumour. Approach of obstructed ileocaecal tuberculosis in the setting of incidental diagnosis of solid pseudopapillary tumour of pancreas in a moribund patient was challenging., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Data are relatively scarce on gastro-intestinal tuberculosis (GITB). Most studies are old and from single centers, or did not include immunosuppressed patients. Thus, we aimed to determine the clinical, radiological, and laboratory profiles of GITB. We included adults with proven GITB treated between 2000 and 2018. Patients were enrolled from 21 referral centers in 8 countries (Belgium, Egypt, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, UK, and Turkey). One hundred four patients were included. Terminal ileum (n = 46, 44.2%), small intestines except terminal ileum (n = 36, 34.6%), colon (n = 29, 27.8%), stomach (n = 6, 5.7%), and perianal (one patient) were the sites of GITB. One-third of all patients were immunosuppressed. Sixteen patients had diabetes, 8 had chronic renal failure, 5 were HIV positive, 4 had liver cirrhosis, and 3 had malignancies. Intestinal biopsy samples were cultured in 75 cases (78.1%) and TB was isolated in 65 patients (86.6%). PCR were performed to 37 (35.6%) biopsy samples and of these, 35 (94.6%) were positive. Ascites samples were cultured in 19 patients and M. tuberculosis was isolated in 11 (57.9%). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed to 40 patients (38.5%) and colonoscopy in 74 (71.1%). Surgical interventions were frequently the source of diagnostic samples (25 laparoscopy/20 laparotomy, n = 45, 43.3%). Patients were treated with standard and second-line anti-TB medications. Ultimately, 4 (3.8%) patients died and 2 (1.9%) cases relapsed. There was a high incidence of underlying immunosuppression in GITB patients. A high degree of clinical suspicion is necessary to initiate appropriate and timely diagnostic procedures; many patients are first diagnosed at surgery.

Background: Few data are published on perianal tuberculosis., Objective: This study aimed to determine the best method to diagnose tuberculosis in patients with fistula-in-ano and to conduct a systematic review to determine the incidence and characteristics of tuberculosis fistula-in-ano., Data Sources: The prospective study data and existing literature were derived from PubMed, Google scholar, and Scopus STUDY SELECTION:: Prospective analysis of patients with tuberculous fistula-in-ano treated between 2014 and 2018 was conducted, and a systematic review of studies describing ≥3 patients with tuberculosis fistula-in-ano was completed., Intervention: Testing of tuberculosis was performed by histopathology or polymerase chain reaction of tissue or pus from the fistula tract., Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes measured were the detection rate of various tests to detect tuberculosis in fistula-in-ano and the prevalence rate of tuberculosis in simple versus complex fistulas., Results: In 637 samples (410 patients) tested, tuberculosis was detected in 49 samples (43 patients). Additional samples (n = 106) sent in patients with a high index of suspicion tested positive in 14 more patients. Thus, overall, 63 samples tested positive in 57 patients (total: 743 samples in 410 patients were tested). Tuberculosis was detected in 2 of 181 patients (1.1%) in tissue (histopathology), in 28 of 341 patients (8.2%) in tissue (polymerase chain reaction), and in 19 of 115 patients (16.5%) in pus (polymerase chain reaction) samples. To detect tuberculosis, tissue (polymerase chain reaction) was significantly better than tissue (histopathology) (28/341 vs 2/181, p < 0.00001) and pus (polymerase chain reaction) was significantly better than tissue (polymerase chain reaction) (19/115 vs 28/341, p < 0.0009). Tuberculosis was significantly more common in complex fistulas than in simple fistulas (20.3% vs 7.2%, p = 0.0002). The systematic review (n = 199) highlighted that tubercular fistulas are more common in recurrent and complex fistulas and in tuberculosis endemic regions., Limitations: The true sensitivity and specificity of each testing modality could not be determined because not all patients with tuberculosis fistula-in-ano were tested by every diagnostic modality studied., Conclusions: The tuberculosis detection rate of polymerase chain reaction was significantly higher than histopathology. Among polymerase chain reaction, pus had higher detection rate than tissue. Tuberculosis was associated with more complex and recurrent fistulas.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is highly endemic in the Philippines. The diagnosis is challenging with its non-specific presentation and the organism could extend to any of the organs. Interestingly, bacterial peritonitis arising spontaneously from gastrointestinal tuberculosis (TB) in an otherwise healthy, non-cirrhotic patient is quite unusual. In this paper, we discuss the case of a 27-year-old HIV-seronegative woman with massive intraperitoneal mixed bacterial and tuberculous abscess presenting 20 months after being diagnosed with bacteriologically confirmed gastrointestinal TB. Repeated large-volume paracentesis was done to drain out the infected ascites instead of inserting a percutaneously implanted catheter. Clinical improvement was noted and she was discharged after 12 days of intravenous antibiotics. She had completed 6 months of antituberculosis therapy and been well since then. The case has demonstrated that repeated paracentesis along with appropriate antibiotic regimen, may be a viable option for patients with TB and bacterial coinfected peritonitis. And possibly, peritoneal TB may increase the risk for (spontaneous) bacterial peritonitis., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Purpose of Review: Strictures of the small bowel are an underdiagnosed entity with significant morbidity because of obstruction and risk of perforation and penetrating disease., Recent Findings: Recent advances in imaging, enteroscopy, and therapeutic advances particularly in Crohn's disease have enabled gastroenterologists to target and individualize management of small bowel strictures, preventing untimely surgery and complications., Summary: All patients with obstructive symptoms, suspected small bowel disease, and negative panendoscopy should be evaluated for small intestinal strictures with cross-sectional imaging and considered for capsule endoscopy. Furthermore, the role of device-assisted enteroscopy, initially employed as a diagnostic tool, has evolved into triaging and delivering further medical and interventional treatments.

Aim: Abdominal tuberculosis presents with non-specific symptoms, including generalised abdominal pain. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is critical to improving outcomes and avoiding complications. We conducted a retrospective review of cases of abdominal tuberculosis presenting to Christchurch Hospital to explore the epidemiology, clinical features and diagnostic modalities used., Method: Cases were identified by searching for relevant ICD discharge codes from January 1996 to January 2016. Data on age, clinical presentation, investigations and microbiological results were obtained., Results: There were 20 patients diagnosed with abdominal tuberculosis over the study period. The median age was 34. Thirteen patients were male (65%), seven female (35%). The majority (11) were from Asia (predominantly India), five were African, and three were New Zealand Europeans. Abdominal pain was the most common presenting symptom (70%) followed by fevers (50%) and night sweats (50%). The C-reactive protein was elevated in 15 patients (75%), anaemia was found in 11 (55%) and nine had abnormal liver function tests (45%). Abdominal ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) showed generic inflammatory change in all patients in this series (100%). Laparoscopy was undertaken in 10 (50%) patients, all of which had positive laparoscopic biopsies. Ascitic fluid was obtained in nine, with stains for acid-fast bacilli uniformly negative, however three (33%) had mycobacterial growth from culture. Six colonoscopies were performed: in three (50%) culture and/or histology was positive. Three lymph node biopsies and two formal laparotomies were the remaining diagnostic techniques employed with two biopsies and one laparotomy yielding positive results. Overall, of the 20 cases, 15 (75%) were able to be definitively confirmed, with the remaining five treated presumptively for probable abdominal tuberculosis., Conclusion: Abdominal tuberculosis is an uncommon presentation at our institution, with an average of one case each year. The typical patient was a young immigrant from Asia or Africa. Diagnostic laparoscopy was the most common and uniformly reliable means of obtaining a definitive diagnosis., Competing Interests: Nil.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis (TB) is a fascinating disease which can be observed both in the clinical context of active pulmonary disease and as a primary infection with no pulmonary involvement. It represents a significant clinical challenge because of the resurgence of TB as well as the diagnostic challenges it poses. A high clinical suspicion remains the most powerful tool in an era of medicine when reliance on diagnostic technology increases. Antimicrobial therapy is the mainstay of therapy, but surgical and endoscopic interventions are frequently required for intestinal TB. Gastrointestinal TB is truly the "great mimic" and continues to require the astute clinical acumen of skillful clinicians to diagnose and treat.

Tuberculosis remains a worldwide public health concern. Atypical extrapulmonary presentations may delay the diagnosis and treatment. We present the case of an adult woman admitted to the emergency department with bowel obstruction. The putative intraoperative diagnostic hypothesis was ovarian cancer with peritoneal dissemination. Histopathological analysis showed a chronic granulomatous inflammatory disease with acid-fast bacilli. The patient was started on an alternative parenteral antituberculosis drug combination until oral feeding was available. Currently, 5 months after surgery, she is asymptomatic. Abdominal tuberculosis is the most frequent extrapulmonary site with a wide range of clinical presentations. Emergency laparotomy may be necessary in patients who present with acute abdomen. Bowel obstruction due to adhesions and strictures is not infrequent. However, tuberculous abdominal cocoon presentation as in our patient is rare. Treatment with parenteral alternative drug regimens for tuberculosis is mandatory until the oral route is available., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None declared., (2016 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.)

Aim/objective: India accounts for the highest tuberculosis burden in the world, and abdominal tuberculosis has been an endemic surgical and gastroenterological problem. Aim of this study is to present our two decades experience on abdominal (gastrointestinal) tuberculosis., Method: 756 patients, who received standard antituberculous treatment with or without surgical treatment with the diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis from January 1996 and May 2014, were reviewed retrospectively. On the basis of clinical presentation, four groups of clinical presentation were identified and various diagnostic measures used in different groups were studied. Numeric values were determined as percent or mean±standard deviation. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for quantitative results and chi-square test was used for qualitative results between groups. p value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate the statistical significance., Results: The duration of symptoms was variable in this study. Out of 756 patients, 64 patients gave definite past history of tuberculosis. Most of the patients in the acute pain abdomen group required surgery while most patients in chronic pain group responded well to medical management. There was significant difference in mortality among the four groups (p=0.025)., Conclusion: Prognosis seems significantly related to the severity of disease, with graver prognosis and less symptomatic improvement in more seriously ill presentations., (Copyright © 2016 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To provide an insight into the presentation, diagnosis and management of paediatric abdominal tuberculosis (TB) in developed countries., Methods: The records of all children at the Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH) admitted with abdominal TB between 1990 and 2014 were reviewed. An automated and manual literature search from 1946 to 2014 was performed., Results: (1) CASE SERIES: six cases were identified at the MCH. All were male between 5 and 17 years of age. All were from populations known to have high rates of TB (aboriginal, immigrant). Three underwent major surgical interventions and three underwent ultrasound (US) or CT aspiration or biopsy for diagnosis. (2) LITERATURE REVIEW: 29 male (64%) and 16 female subjects (36%) aged between 14 months and 18 years were identified, including the MCH patients. All patients except one were from populations with a high incidence of TB. Most presented with a positive tuberculin skin test (90%), abdominal pain (76%), fever (71%) and weight loss (68%). On imaging, 22 (49%) were classified with gastrointestinal TB with colonic wall irregularity (41%) and 19 (42%) with peritoneal TB with ascites (68%). A positive culture was obtained in 33 (73%) patients. Three cases used CT- or US-guided aspiration or biopsy to obtain tissue samples. A surgical intervention was performed in 34 (76%) children; 13 (38%) of these were for diagnosis., Conclusions: Diagnosis based on clinical features (abdominal pain, fever and weight loss) and CT- or US-guided aspiration or biopsy may encourage physicians to adopt a more conservative approach to abdominal TB., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)

Abdominal tuberculosis is an increasingly common disease that poses diagnostic challenge, as the nonspecific features of the disease which may lead to diagnostic delays and development of complications. This condition is regarded as a great mimicker of other abdominal pathology. A high index of suspicion is an important factor in early diagnosis. Abdominal involvement may occur in the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum, lymphnodes or solid viscera. Various investigative methods have been used to aid in the diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis. Early diagnosis and initiation of antituberculous therapy and surgical treatment are essential to prevent morbidity and mortality. Most of the patients respond very well to standard antitubercular therapy and surgery is required only in a minority of cases. Imaging plays an important role in diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis because early recognition of this condition is important. We reviewed our experience with the findings on various imaging modalities for diagnosis of this potentially treatable disease.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a higher incidence rate of tuberculosis and a more frequent extrapulmonary involvement than the general population. We present 2 SLE patients who developed gastrointestinal tuberculosis complicated with intestinal perforation, a rare but serious complication that could be confused with lupus-associated intestinal vasculitis. Opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis must be suspected in SLE patients with abdominal symptoms on immunosuppressive therapy because its early recognition could prevent catastrophic complications such as intestinal perforation and subsequent peritonitis.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is a major health problem in the developing countries. Duodenal involvement is uncommon and can mimic superior mesenteric artery syndrome. Our case presented as proximal intestinal obstruction had tubercular stricture in the third part of the duodenum, proximal jejunum and ileocecal region, an uncommon and difficult intraoperative situation.

Tuberculosis involving the pancreas is rare. We report a patient with pancreatic tuberculosis complicated by haemorrhage from a splenic artery pseudoaneurysm. As far as we are aware, the development of a splenic artery pseudoaneurysm in association with a large caseating mass of tuberculous pancreatic lymph nodes has not been reported previously. We review the literature and discuss the varied presentations of tuberculosis involving the pancreas or the pancreatic bed and its draining lymph nodes.

Tuberculosis of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) occurs as a primary lesion or secondary to a focus of tuberculosis elsewhere in the body, most commonly in the lungs. Tuberculosis can affect any part of the GIT from the oesophagus to the anal canal. Two main types are - the tuberculous ulcer and the rarer hypertrophic type which is generally found at the ileocecal junction, less commonly in the colon or rectum. Tuberculosis of bowel distal to ileocecal junction is rare and is seldom considered as a differential diagnosis of rectal stricture (2%). We report a case of rectal tuberculosis presenting with rectal prolapse and masquerading as malignancy, clinically, radiologically as well as on colonoscopy. The diagnosis was confirmed by repeated histopathological examination. The patient underwent definitive surgery along with anti-tuberculous therapy.

Gastroduodenal tuberculosis (GDTB) is rare in the West. Its presentation can be non-specific and often mimics other more common conditions such as peptic ulcer disease, malignancy and Crohn's disease. Our case describes a 33-year-old Indian immigrant who presented with a 3-year history of dyspepsia and underwent balloon dilation for gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). While biopsies from the duodenum revealed only non-caseating granuloma, a high index of suspicion was maintained and colonoscopy, performed despite the absence of lower gastrointestinal symptoms, revealed a single discrete nodular and ulcerated area in the proximal transverse colon; this eventually grew Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our patient avoided undergoing major surgery and was successfully treated with balloon dilation and antitubercular medication. We highlight the importance of having a concerted, proactive approach to diagnosis. We discuss the therapeutic challenges involving this rare condition and explain the rationale for high-dose antisecretory therapy.

Background: Abdominal tuberculosis (ATB) poses a significant diagnostic, management, and resource challenge. In Australia, an increasing number of tuberculosis (TB) cases are being reported, and we describe our experience of ATB in an Australian tertiary institution., Methods: All diagnosed cases of tuberculosis (TB) at the Royal North Shore tertiary hospital campus of the University of Sydney are entered prospectively into a central registry. Cases of ATB encountered between September 1991 and November 2011 were identified and retrospectively reviewed., Results: In all, 841 cases of TB were identified, of which 20 were abdominal (2.4 %). Median age at presentation was 34 years (range: 22-79 years), and 55 % of patients were women. None of the patients were born in Australia and 11 patients were of South Asian origin. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain (65 %). Diagnosis was based primarily on histology (90 % sensitivity), and the sensitivity of PCR analysis in this series was low (44 %). Eleven of the patients required laparoscopy or laparotomy. 40 % of cases involved the peritoneum, and disease was also seen in solid organs (liver, spleen, pancreas, adrenal gland) and bowel (esophagus, small bowel, colon)., Conclusions: In our local experience ATB was seen exclusively in the immigrant population. The presentation of ATB varies greatly, necessitating a high index of suspicion within the context of abdominal symptoms in high-risk groups. The role of surgical involvement is indispensable for both diagnosis and management of ATB-related complications. Surgeons should remain mindful of the diagnosis in an age of increasing worldwide incidence.

Objective: To document the epidemiologic profile and management outcome of patients with abdominal tuberculosis in a tertiary care setup., Methods: This descriptive case series was conducted at the Department of Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, between January 2003 and December 2008. All adult patients of either gender who presented with abdominal tuberculosis and were managed at our hospital during the study period were included in the study on the basis of convenience sampling. Numerical data were expressed as mean +/- standard deviation, while categorical data were analysed using SPSS version 10. Chi square test was conducted to compare categorical variables., Results: Of the 233 adult patients with abdominal tuberculosis who were part of the study, 110 (47.21%) were males and 123 (52.78%) females. The mean age was 28.21 +/- 5.75 years. Majority of our patients (80.68%) belonged to poor families. History of concomitant pulmonary tuberculosis was found in 23 (9.87%) patients. Family history of tuberculosis was found in 13 (5.57%) patients. Of the patients 157 (67.38%) presented with acute abdomen; strictures were the most common operative finding (n = 161; 69%); the patients needing hospitalisation were 204 (87.55%), with the mean hospital stay being 19.55 +/- 4.51 days. The in-hospital mortality was 5 (2.14%)., Conclusion: Abdominal tuberculosis was found prevalent in the population and predominantly affected the younger lot belonging to the poor socioeconomic strata. Majority of the cases were of primary intestinal variety, and in a small proportion it was secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis. Majority of the patients presented with complications such as acute intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation and peritonitis, necessitating emergency laparotomy.

Current guidelines for gastroduodenal tuberculosis suggest that surgery in conjunction with anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) is the primary therapy. We determined the efficacy of endoscopic balloon dilatation along with ATT as the primary treatment for this condition. Patients with gastric outlet obstruction at endoscopy seen over a two-year period underwent multiple biopsies from the involved area. Those in whom mucosal biopsy revealed non-specific inflammation, underwent endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). Patients showing granulomatous inflammation with/without acid-fast bacilli (AFB) underwent endoscopic balloon dilatation under fluoroscopic guidance along with ATT. End point of dilatation was taken as dilatation with 18 mm balloon. The time taken to resume normal diet post endotherapy was determined. Thirteen patients were diagnosed to have gastroduodenal tuberculosis. Granulomatous inflammation with or without demonstration of AFB was documented in 92 % of the patients by endoscopic biopsy and EMR. Endoscopic balloon dilatation of the strictures was successful in 11/12 patients (92 %); these patients could resume their normal diet at a median of 11 days (range 7-60) post-dilatation. Retroperitoneal perforation in 1 patient was managed conservatively. Endoscopic therapy in combination with ATT is recommended as the first line therapy for gastroduodenal tuberculosis. Surgical intervention is reserved for the minority in whom endoscopic therapy fails.

Aims: Intestinal tuberculosis is not uncommon in developing countries. The diagnosis of this disease is quite difficult. The purpose of our research was to recall the clinical, colonoscopic, and histopathological features of this disease., Methods: The clinical, colonoscopic, and histopathological findings were retrospectively analyzed in 34 patients with intestinal colonic tuberculosis in recent 5 years., Results: The mean age of the patients was 34.7 ± 10.5 years. There were 18 males and 16 females in this group. Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea, weight loss, and fatigue were the commonest symptoms. Extraintestinal tuberculosis was present in 14 patients. Colonoscopy revealed ulcers in 18 patients, nodules in 11, a deformed cecum and ileocecal valve in 17, strictures in five, polypoid lesions in four, and fibrous bands forming mucosal bridges in three. The cecum and ascending colon were the commonest sites involved. Segmental tuberculosis was seen in five of the 34 patients in whom full-length colonoscopy could be performed. Two or more sites were involved in 18 patients. Histopathology revealed well-formed granulomas in 23 patients. Fourteen of the above patients had caseation and 11 had confluence of the granulomas. Ill-formed granulomas were seen in seven patients and chronic inflammatory changes in 13. Both caseation granulomas and stain for acid-fast bacilli in the biopsies positive were from four patients. We divided the patients into groups I (definitive intestinal tuberculosis, 27 cases) and II (suspected intestinal tuberculosis, seven cases). Despite the various histopathological findings, all of the patients responded to antitubercular treatment and continued to remain asymptomatic during the follow-up period., Conclusions: Colonoscopy with biopsy is essential for diagnosing colonic tuberculosis. Even in the absence of the classic histopathological features, a therapeutic trial may be indicated in a given clinical and colonoscopic setting. Follow-up is important.

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is quite rare, representing only 3% of all extrapulmonary cases. Involvement of the appendix is rare, only occurring in about 1% of cases. It is usually secondary to tuberculosis elsewhere in the abdomen. A prompt diagnosis depends on a high index of suspicion as clinical signs may be nonspecific and microbiological confirmation is difficult. Histopathologic examination is often the only way to reach a diagnosis and to establish specific antibiotic therapy. In these cases, due to the absence of specific symptoms and signs, the diagnosis is delayed until after surgery.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem in resource-constrained countries. Intestinal TB is especially notorious as a number of cases have to be dealt surgically, which too have morbidity and mortality. This study was conducted to identify various presentations of intestinal TB necessitating surgical intervention, their management, complications, and outcome in our hospital., Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study carried out at the Department of Paediatric Surgery, The Children's Hospital and The Institute of Child Health Lahore, Pakistan, from December 2007 to January 2010. The information about the demography, clinical presentations, investigations, management performed, complications encountered, and outcome of patients with intestinal TB were reviewed., Results: There were a total of 18 patients with intestinal TB who were managed surgically during this period. Five were male and 13 female patients (M : F 1 : 2.6). Mean age of presentation was 8.3 years. Clinical presentations were acute peritonitis in 7 patients, pneumoperitoneum in 5 patients, complete intestinal obstruction in 4 patients, pain in right iliac fossa in 2 patients, and irreducible inguinal hernia in 1 patient. Four patients had concurrent pulmonary TB. Surgical interventions included primary repair of perforation in one, repair of perforation with diversion ileostomy in 8, and merely peritoneal drainage (haemodynamically unstable patients) in 3 patients. The post-operative complications were high output ileostomy in 3, faecal fistula in 1, wound dehiscence in 3, wound infection 5, and prolonged ileus in 1 patient. In three patients stoma was reversed during the same admission. There was one expiry in our study., Conclusion: Acute peritonitis, intestinal obstruction and intestinal perforation are the main clinical presentations requiring surgical interventions. Optimal surgical strategy should be adopted to avoid such pitfalls in the management.

Background/aim: Intestinal tuberculosis needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis when patients with intestinal pathology are encountered. Tuberculosis can mimic other disease entities like, ischemic enteritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, malignancies, intussusception etc., clinically as well as morphologically in resected intestinal specimens. We aimed to study the various clinical presentations leading to intestinal resection, with identification of different etiological factors by histopathological examination; and to illustrate, discuss and describe the various histopathological features of the lesions in these resected intestinal specimens with clinicopathological correlation., Materials and Methods: We studied 100 cases of resected intestinal specimens received during September 2002 to December 2003. We totally encountered 22 request forms with clinical suspicion of ileoceocal tuberculosis., Results: Abdominal tenderness and mass in ileoceocal region were noted in all cases. In many instances, the cases were operated for acute/subacute intestinal obstruction. Clinical and intra-operative diagnoses of tubercular enteritis, in many instances, were finally diagnosed histopathologically as ischemic enteritis (nine cases), chronic nonspecific enteritis (four cases), adenocarcinoma of the caecum, Crohn's disease, intussusception (each one case), and correctly as intestinal tuberculosis in only six cases., Conclusion: Tuberculosis can mimic various disease entities, clinically and sometimes morphologically. Vice versa is also true. An increased awareness of intestinal tuberculosis coupled with varied clinical presentations, nonspecific signs and symptoms, difficulties in diagnostic methods and need of early and specific treatment should improve the outcome for patients with this disease.

Differentiating intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn's disease (CD) is an important clinical challenge of considerable therapeutic significance. The problem is of greatest magnitude in countries where tuberculosis continues to be highly prevalent, and where the incidence of CD is increasing. The final clinical diagnosis is based on a combination of the clinical history with endoscopic studies, culture and polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, biopsy pathology, radiological investigations and response to therapy. In a subset of patients, surgery is required and intraoperative findings with pathological study of the resected bowel provide a definitive diagnosis. Awareness of the parameters useful in distinguishing these two disorders in each of the different diagnostic modalities is crucial to accurate decision making. Newer techniques, such as capsule endoscopy, small bowel enteroscopy and immunological assays for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have a role to play in the differentiation of intestinal tuberculosis and CD. This review presents currently available evidence regarding the usefulness and limitations of all these different modalities available for the evaluation of these two disorders.

Gastric tuberculosis is an extremely rare entity particularly when it is not associated with pulmonary tuberculosis or an immunodeficient state. Here one patient required surgery for gastric outlet obstruction and was subsequently put on antituberculous drugs. The patient responded well to treatment and is currently doing well in follow-up. This disease though rare should be considered in the differential diagnosis of gastric malignancy and severe peptic ulcer disease.

Tuberculosis is very common entity in both developing and under developed countries. Each year 3 million people worldwide died of the disease. Among extra pulmonary TB, alimentary system accounts for about 3.0% cases. The Commonest presentation of alimentary tuberculosis is Ileo-caecal disease, but isolated appendicular involvement is very rarely seen. Although some cases have been reported from our neighboring countries, there is still no such report from Bangladesh. We are here for the first time reporting a case of isolated appendicular tuberculosis which presented to us with peritonitis.

Since colonic tuberculosis is uncommon and its bifocal pseudo-tumor form is exceptional, differential diagnosis with the colonic cancer is exceedingly difficult. The purpose of this report is to describe a case of primary colonic tuberculosis in two separate locations discovered in a patient presenting with persistent massive hematochezia. A 69-year-old woman was examined for hematochezia, abdominal pain and recent weight loss. Colonoscopy revealed the presence of two ulcerated tumor-like lesions in right colon. One of these lesions caused significant stenosis. Histological examination of biopsy specimens was inconclusive. Colonic tumor with bleeding was considered as the most likely diagnosis. Surgical exploration demonstrated one tumor in the cecum and another in the ascending colon. Right hemicolectomy was performed. Histological examination of the surgical specimen demonstrated a granulomatous reaction pattern with caseous necrosis. Conventional antituberculosis treatment led to clinical improvement.

An 80 year old lady presented with signs and symptoms of sub-acute intestinal obstruction which failed conservative management. CT scan abdomen revealed circumferential ileum thickening with proximal bowel dilatation. Laparotomy and segmental resection was done. Pathological findings were suggestive of chronic granulomatous ileits with differential of Crohn's disease and gastrointestinal tuberculosis. The patient was presumed to have gastrointestinal tuberculosis and commenced on anti tuberculosis treatment despite inconclusive evidence for confirmation and showed marked clinical improvement.

Objective: To determine the frequency of tuberculosis in recurrent fistula-in-ano., Study Design: Case series., Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Surgical Ward-3, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan, from 1998 to 2007., Patients and Methods: The study included 100 cases of recurrent fistula-in-ano not responding to conventional surgery. Patients with other co-morbidities such as diabetes mellitus, bleeding disorders or with the evidence of pulmonary, abdominal or intestinal tuberculosis were excluded from this study. Fistulogram was performed in all patients. All the patients were subjected to fistulectomy followed by histopathology of the resected specimen. Thereafter, confirmation of the disease, anti-tuberculous treatment was immediately started and response to treatment was observed after 6 months., Results: Out of the 100 studied patients, 11 cases had biopsy proven tuberculosis in the fistula. All the patients were male. The fistulae were low type, single and usually located posteriorly (n=9) with everted margins. Ten were located within 3 cm of anus. Fistulogram revealed single internal opening. Comparative statistics of tuberculous fistula-in-ano with fistulas due to specific inflammation revealed no major differences. The diagnosed patients of tubercular fistulae-in-ano were observed for at least 6 months after starting anti-tuberculous treatment. They all responded well to anti-tubercular treatment and the fistulae healed without any complication such as recurrence or anal stenosis within 6 months., Conclusion: Tuberculosis should be suspected in case of recurrent fistulae-in-ano, so as to avoid unusual delay in the treatment and miseries to the patient. Appropriate anti-tuberculous therapy leads to healing within 6 months.