Objectives: Abdominal tuberculosis (ATB) is the second most common type of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. Though it does not usually pose a significant risk of infectivity, ATB can go unidentified and progress to disseminated infection. The aim of this study is to highlight the incidence and outcome of this infection in a tertiary care centre in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: In this retrospective study, we included all ATB patients admitted to our centre between January 1st, 2010 and December 31, 2018. A total of 42 patients with a median age of 49 (range 18e83 years, 78.6 males) were identified. Results: The most common presentation was abdominal pain, weight loss, and abdominal distension. All the patients were HIV negative; however, 50 had a comorbid condition, mainly diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, and liver cirrhosis. Tuberculous peritonitis was the predominant type of ATB. Suspicious and potentially malignant abdominal masses appeared on the abdominal CT scans of six patients. This suggest that TB should be excluded in patients from endemic area presenting with abdominal masses.
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