A CASE REPORT Abdominal

INTRODUCTION According to the World Health Organization, more than 2 billion people are estimated to be infected with tuberculosis1 (TB) and approximately 95% of tuberculosis cases occur in developing countries.2 Of these cases, 1–3% are classified as extrapulmonary and among them abdominal TB, which may involve the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum, lymph nodes or solid viscera, constitutes up to 12%.3,4 Gastrointestinal involvement is found in 66–75% of abdominal cases, with the terminal ileum and the ileocecal region being the most common sites of involvement5. Infection of the gastrointestinal system with tuberculosis is accomplished by means of ingestion, through a hematogenous route from other tuberculous foci or local spread from surrounding organs involved.6 It may often be confused with other intestinal inflammatory lesions and diagnosing intestinal tuberculosis is difficult not only due to variable anatomical location, but lack of efficient and sensitive tools.7 The most common presenting symptom of intestinal tuberculosis, seen in 90–100% of patients, is abdominal pain. Other common symptoms include weight loss (66%), fever (35–50%), and a change in bowel habit (20%). Less common but well-described symptoms include malabsorption, night sweats, malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, melena, and rectal bleeding.8 Due to these relatively non-specific symptoms, delays in diagnosis are frequent. For our study, a definitive diagnosis of abdominal Mycobacterium tuberculosis was issued by A CASE REPORT