Intestinal tuberculosis: bacteriological study of tissue obtained by colonoscopy and during surgery

The biopsy tissue obtained during surgery and colonoscopy from 28 cases of intestinal tuberculosis was utilized for isolation and identification of mycobacteria. The mycobacteria could be isolated in 12 (42%) of 28 patients. Colonoscopy can be a successful method of bacteriological diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis. Mycobacteria were scarcely ever seen on histological sections. Combined use of guinea pig inoculation and culture was more rewarding than either alone. The yield of positive cultures was greater in tissue with caseation necrosis, though organisms were also recovered from tissues showing non-caseating granuloma and non-specific inflammation. The intestinal tissue gave more positive cultures (41%) than did lymph nodes (14%). The organisms were isolated in patients with or without pulmonary lesions and chemotherapy in the past. All the organisms were isolated as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.