Tuberculosis: genitourinary tuberculosis.

Abstract

Genitourinary tuberculosis should be managed on an outpatient basis, patients being seen once a week. The treatment of choice is a short-course regimen comprising 2 months of either three or fours drugs - streptomycin, rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide - followed by isoniazid and rifampicin three times a week for either 2 or 4 months, depending on the severity of the lesion. Patients should be followed-up, normally for one year, and be told to report to their doctors if they have any recurrence of urinary symptoms. However, if they have renal calcification they should be followed-up as for any other case of calcification and seen annually for at least 10 years. Surgery still has an important part to play in the present management. Radical surgery, nearly always nephrectomy or epididymectomy, should be carried out when there are destructive lesions. Reconstructive surgery, mainly the the repair of strictures at the lower end of the ureter and bladder augmentation for a small fibrotic bladder, is frequently required. Both radical and reconstructive surgery should be carried out in the first 2 months of intensive chemotherapy. There is no reason now why all patients should not be able to return to a normal efficient life - free from all association with the disease - not later than 4 months after the start of treatment.