[Abdominal tuberculosis: a 13-year experience]

Abdominal tuberculosis (ATB) is a rare but serious form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. We conducted a prospective descriptive study including all patients hospitalized for abdominal tuberculosis at Mahres Regional Hospital between January 2012 and December 2024. Fourteen patients were included. Risk factors included a personal history of tuberculosis (28.5%), family history (21.4%), diabetes mellitus (21.4%), consumption of unpasteurized milk (28.5%), and contact with animals (21.4%). The main sites of involvement were peritoneal (42.8%) and intestinal (42.8%), with mesenteric lymph node involvement observed in 21.4% of cases. Extra-abdominal tuberculosis was present in 35.7% of patients. The diagnosis was based on microbiological methods (42.8%), histological findings (35.7%), and/or clinical features (21.4%). All patients received multi-drug anti-tuberculosis therapy for a median duration of 11 months, which was well tolerated except in 14.2% of cases. Abdominal tuberculosis remains a rare entity with diverse and often misleading clinical presentations, underscoring the importance of early clinical suspicion and multidisciplinary management.