Abstract
From 1965 to 1989, 60 cases of large bowel tuberculosis among 116 cases of abdominal tuberculosis are reviewed and analyzed. Lesions located in the cecum or ileocecal region were found in 49 of the 60 cases. Most of the patients (50/60) received surgical intervention, but the definite diagnoses had never been proved until surgery. The diagnoses were proved by histopathologic examination in these 50 cases. Antituberculosis medications were given for at least nine months in all patients. Twenty-nine of the 50 patients who received operations had primary anastomosis during the operations, and no leakage occurred. Evidence of pulmonary tuberculous lesions could be found in 40 of the 60 cases. Positive findings of tubercle bacilli in sputum smear or culture were noted in 13 cases. The positive rate of sputum examinations decreased during 1980 to 1989; 25.6 percent (10/39) were positive from 1965 to 1979 and 14 percent (3/21) were positive from 1980 to 1989. In the meantime, there was a steady decline in the cases of large bowel tuberculosis in the most recent few years. An antituberculosis program has been carried out in the past 40 years with remarkable effect in the Taiwan area, but the possibility of intestinal tuberculosis still exists. The authors suggest that surgeons keep tuberculosis in mind when they are dealing with patients who suffer from intestinal obstruction of unknown origin with the suspected findings of pulmonary tuberculosis in chest x-ray films.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Taiwan Provincial Tuberculosis Control Bureau. Recent advance in tuberculosis control program in Taiwan. 1984:22.
Vaidya MG, Sodhi JS. Gastrointestinal tract tuberculosis: a study of 102 cases including 55 hemicolectomies. Clin Radiol 1978;29:189–95.
Faulkner RL Jr. Tuberculosis as a surgical disease of the abdomen. Ann Surg 1964;160:806–13.
Jerome SA, William DH. Tuberculosis of the gastrointestinal tract. Arch Surg 1964;89:282–93.
Howell JS, Knapton PJ. Ileo-cecal tuberculosis. Gut 1964;5:524–9.
Bentley G, Webster JH. Gastrointestinal tuberculosis: a 19-year review. Br J Surg 1967;54:90–6.
Sakai Y. Colonoscopic diagnosis of the intestinal tuberculosis. Mater Med Pol 1979;11:275–8.
Butler E. Surgical management of certain granulomata of intestine. J R Soc Med 1953;46:69–72.
Rankine JA. Tuberculosis of the ileocecal area. J Int Coll Surg 1952;18:202–9.
Kapoor VK, Sharma LK. Abdominal tuberculosis. Br J Surg 1986;75:2–3.
Paustian FF, Bockus HL. So-called primary ulcerohypertrophic ileocecal tuberculosis. Am J Med 1959;27:509–17.
Wake PN, Humphrey C, Walker R. Long term intravenous rifampicin after massive small bowel resection. Tubercle 1980;61:109–11.
Anscombe AR, Keddie NC, Schofield PF. Caecal tuberculosis. Gut 1967;8:337–42.
Tsai GL, Huang HC, Chen PH, Lin KY, Siauw CP. Tuberculosis of intestines: analysis of 13 cases. Taiwan I Hsueh Hui Tsa Chih 1986;85:832–43.
Recio PM. Tuberculosis of the large bowel. Dis Colon Rectum 1961;4:439–41.
Kapoor VK, Sharma LK. Abdominal tuberculosis. Br J Surg 1988;75:2–3.
Mcgee GS, Williams LF, Potts J. Gastrointestinal tuberculosis: resurgence of an old pathogen. Am Surg 1989;55:16–20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Read at the XIIIth Biennial Congress of the International Society of University Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Graz, Austria, June 24 to 28, 1990.
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, WS., Leu, SY., Hsu, H. et al. Trend of large bowel tuberculosis and the relation with pulmonary tuberculosis. Dis Colon Rectum 35, 189–192 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02050677
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02050677