| Abstrakt: |
Thirty-one eases of intestinal tuberculosis, diagnosed from 1932 through 1975 at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, were reviewed with particular reference to the impact of antituberculous chemotherapy on the outcome of the disease and to the role of surgery in diagnosis and treatment. The chest X-ray was 90% effective in demonstrating evidence of tuberculosis in this series. However, since even on gross examination differentiation of intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn's disease or neoplasia may be impossible, surgical exploration is indicated when diagnosis is in doubt and biopsy and culture of intra-abdominal tissue should be performed for diagnostic purposes. The importance of instituting immediate therapy is emphasized by a 67% mortality rate in the prestreptomycin era and a 21% mortality rate in patients receiving appropriate drug therapy. Because of the success of chemotherapy, intestinal resection is seldom indicated, except in those cases in which scarring and stricture formation demand surgical relief of intestinal obstruction, or in which the complications of fistula, hemorrhage, or perforation may occur. |
Full text from SpringerLink