The surgical management of urogenital tuberculosis our experience and long-term follow-up

INTRODUCTION: Urogenital tuberculosis (TB) is common in developing countries. We present our experience of surgically managed cases of genitourinary TB (GUTB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 60 cases GUTB who underwent surgery at our center from January 2003 to January 2010. Mode of presentation, organ involvement, investigation, surgical treatment and follow-up were studied. RESULTS: There were 38 males and 22 females with a mean age of 32.5 years. The most common symptom was irritative voiding symptoms. The most common organ involved was bladder in 33 cases, and next most common was kidney in 30 cases. Preoperative bacteriologic diagnosis was confirmed in only 19 cases. A total of 66 procedures were performed as some patients needed more than one procedure. These included 35 ablative procedures and 31 reconstructive procedures. All the patients were followed-up with renal function test (RFT) at 3, 6 and 12 months. The intravenous urography and diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid scan were performed at 3 months when indicated. Then the patients were followed with RFT and ultrasonography 6 monthly for 3 years and then annual RFT. CONCLUSION: Many patients of urogenital TB present late with cicatrisation sequelae. Multidrug chemotherapy with judicious surgery as and when indicated is the ideal treatment. The results of reconstructive surgery are good and should be done when possible. Rigorous and long term follow-up is necessary in patients undergoing reconstructive surgery.