Rectal Tuberculosis - A Complete Review

Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease caused mainly by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its most frequent location is lung. Tuberculosis which affects the rectum is a rare extra-pulmonary sort of the disease that needs recognition because it requires specific treatment. Clinical and endoscopic presentations of intestinal TB are often almost like those of other diseases, like neoplasias and regional enteritis. Therefore, a high level of suspicion is required, as well as the performance of microbiologic studies, to confirm the diagnosis. Tuberculosis which affects the rectum is called rectal tuberculosis. Most common symptoms of rectal tuberculosis are abdominal pain, hematochezia, bowel habit change, episodes of rectal bleeding. The causative organisms of the disease include Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Bovis. Diagnosis of rectal tuberculosis is based on characteristic endoscopic appearance of lesions, histopathologic features of tuberculosis in biopsy/ resected material, and response to antitubercular therapy. It is still a great challenge even for experienced clinicians to diagnose the abdominal tuberculosis since it is an excellent mimicker that has unusual presentations. A high index of suspicion is important for reaching its diagnosis.Keywords: Rectal tuberculosis, Tuberculosis, Rectal TB.