The aim of our study is to demonstrate the difficulties of diagnosis of peritoneal tuberculosis in endemic areas and the value of laparoscopy for diagnostic confirmation. We report a retrospective study of 60 cases of peritoneal tuberculosis, collected from January 2004 to December 2009. The patients' median age was 41 years, and the sex ratio 0.4. The dominant reasons for consultation were pain and abdominal distension. Abdominal ultrasound found ascites in all patients. Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 30 patients and confirmed the ultrasound data. Paracentesis of the ascites took place in all patients, collecting exudative fluid in all cases; lymphocytes predominance in 83%. Screening for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the ascites on direct examination and after culture was performed in 43 cases and negative in all of them. Surgical biopsy was performed laparoscopically in 29 patients and by laparotomy in 31 patients. Histological examination of the peritoneal biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of peritoneal tuberculosis in all cases.
Keywords: adenosis deaminase; ascites; computed tomography; laparoscopy; peritoneal tuberculosis; surgery.