Beware Of Intestinal TB Disease! Immediately Recognize The Causes, Characteristics, And Treatment

Ilustrasi (Sora Shimazaki / Pexels)

JAKARTA - One of the diseases that most often causes death in Indonesia is tuberculosis or tuberculosis. TB infection generally attacks the lungs. However, TB bacteria can also spread to other organs, especially the lining of the lungs or pleura, lymph nodes, and intestines.

Between pulmonary TB and lymph TB, intestinal TB is indeed the least heard. However, this is the most deadly type of TB. Intestinal tuberculosis is a condition in which the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis bacteria infects the stomach, lining of the abdominal cavity, to the intestines. The spread of TB bacteria to the stomach organs can be through blood, lymph or swallowed phlegm.

People who are at risk for this disease are those who have low immune system, malnutrition, diabetes, or HIV.

Symptoms of intestinal TB are somewhat difficult to distinguish from other bowel diseases, such as colon and appendicitis. However, generally this disease can be recognized through several symptoms, namely abdominal pain, fever, weight loss, constipation, diarrhea, enlarged liver and spleen, and blood spots during bowel movements.

If not treated promptly, intestinal TB can cause intestinal obstruction with symptoms in the form of abdominal tension, lumps in the stomach, and vomiting.

Unlike pulmonary TB which is easy to treat, the treatment of intestinal TB is still a matter of debate. The small number of studies examining the treatment of this disease has made it difficult for the medical team to determine the right type of drug for curing intestinal TB.

Even so, launching from the klikdokter page, Thursday, February 11, in general, intestinal TB treatment can be done in two ways, namely:

Taking anti-tuberculosis (OAT) drugs

Anti-TB drugs used to treat intestinal TB are antibiotics for pulmonary TB. For example, rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. In order for this disease to completely disappear from the body, treatment is required for about up to six months. Treatment for more than six months is only done if the intestinal TB case is accompanied by complications.

Operation

Surgery is needed if intestinal TB causes other problems such as perforation (hole), adhesions (adhesions), fistulas, bleeding, and intestinal obstruction (blockage).

If you have a history or are at high risk of developing TB, you should be diligent about doing routine checks to ensure that you are completely free from this disease.

If you have taken OAT and are declared cured of intestinal TB, but still feel discomfort around the stomach, accompanied by pain, nausea, and vomiting, then you should check with your doctor again. This may be caused by narrowing or adhesions of the intestines after continued therapy.

Considering that this disease is quite dangerous and can be contagious, it is imperative that you take preventive measures such as the BCG vaccine, carry out early treatment if TB symptoms appear, and avoid close contact with people around you so as not to transmit the disease.