Severe Crohn's Disease With Intra-abdominal Fistula: First Reported Case From Tanzania

Nadeem Kassam; Omar Aziz; Eric Aghan; Melchisedeck Mandwa; Caroline Ngimba; Hanifa Mbithe; Salim Surani; Casmir Wambura

doi:10.7759/cureus.21277

Severe Crohn's Disease With Intra-abdominal Fistula: First Reported Case From Tanzania

Cureus. 2022 Jan 15;14(1):e21277. doi: 10.7759/cureus.21277. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Authors

Nadeem Kassam¹, Omar Aziz^{2

3}, Eric Aghan⁴, Melchisedeck Mandwa⁴, Caroline Ngimba⁴, Hanifa Mbithe^{5

6}, Salim Surani^{7

8}, Casmir Wambura⁹

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa, Dar es Salaam, TZA.
² Medicine, Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa, Dar es Salaam, TZA.
³ Medicine, Aga Khan Hospital, Dar es Salaam, TZA.
⁴ Family Medicine, Aga Khan Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, TZA.
⁵ Internal Medicine, Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa, Dar-es-Salaam, TZA.
⁶ Internal Medicine, Aga Khan Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, TZA.
⁷ Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
⁸ Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
⁹ Gastroenterology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, TZA.

Abstract

We describe a case of Crohn's disease occurring in a young Tanzanian female. Crohn's disease is rare in Africa and not encountered normally. The presentation of Crohn's disease overlaps with many other abdominal disorders that are common in an African setting, such as tuberculosis and schistosomiasis. The disease is probably underdiagnosed in Africa due to limitations in diagnostic testing and rarity.

Keywords: abdominal pain; crohn’s disease (cd); diarrhea; enterocolitis; gi fistula formation; irritable bowel syndrome.

Publication types

Case Reports