A retrospective cohort study of 756 cases of abdominal tuberculosis: Two decades single centre experience.

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.