Tubercular lymphadenitis in the 21st century: A 5-Year single-center retrospective study from South India

Tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLN) remains the most frequent manifestation for extrapulmonary TB despite advancements in diagnostics and management over the years. Our study intends to explore five-year trend of TBLN in a tertiary care centre from south India, and aims to study clinico-demographic and diagnostic factors in the management of TBLN.

All the adult patients (≥18 years) diagnosed and confirmed for TB lymphadenitis between January 2015 to December 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. Demographic factors, clinical manifestations, and different diagnostic approaches used in the management of TBLN were analysed using SPSS ver. 16.

A total of 164 patients with confirmed TBLN were included. Patients aged 18-45 years were the most affected (63.41%) with female dominancy. The most affected lymph nodes were cervical lymph nodes (84.1%) presenting with single palpable enlarged lymph node (80.5%). Majority (78.7%) of the lymph nodes were non-matted and 68.9% of enlarged lymph nodes were >3cm size. Excisional biopsy was performed for the majority of the patients 99 (60.4%) and 60.4% of the cases were managed with a combination of surgical excision and anti-tubercular treatment (ATT).

The declining trend of TBLN observed in this study highlights the outcome of good public health policies; however, young females and high-risk groups like HIV infected or AIDS (affected more in the study) demand further attention. Overall, the advanced diagnostic tools along with surgical management and ATT can lead us to earlier diagnosis and successful treatment outcomes.