Pitfalls in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tuberculosis

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose since it mimics many other abdominal conditions and has protean manifestations. The disease can present as an abdominal mass, bowel perforation, Crohn's disease and dysentery. These presentations are discussed with representative cases to illustrate the diagnostic difficulties. It is emphasized that to obviate the diagnostic pitfalls, tuberculosis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of unusual gastrointestinal presentations particularly because radiological and laboratory tests may be noncontributory.