Case Report

Tuberculous abdominal abscess in an HIV-infected man: Neither infection previously diagnosed

Kuo-Yao Kao, Tsung-I Hung
Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine | Vol 11, No 2 | a228 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhivmed.v11i2.228 | © 2010 Kuo-Yao Kao, Tsung-I Hung | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 15 December 2010 | Published: 04 November 2010

About the author(s)

Kuo-Yao Kao,
Tsung-I Hung,, Taiwan

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Abstract

A 38-year-old man had a 1-week history of right lower quadrant abdominal pain; the initial impression was that he had diverticulitis of the ascending colon with an intra-abdominal abscess. Signs of peritonitis mandated an immediate right hemicolectomy. The unusual location of the abscess and the patient’s unusual postoperative course suggested that he might also have a systemic disease. Testing for HIV infection was positive. After 2 weeks in hospital, he was treated as an outpatient for both tuberculosis and HIV with a favourable outcome.

In Taiwan a pre-operative HIV test is not performed routinely, and the HIV seroprevalence in surgical patient populations is unknown. Surgeons should keep the possibility of HIV infection in mind in a patient with an unusual clinical course.

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