Tuberculosis of genitals: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Genital tuberculosis is a secondary disease, the development of which is provoked by mycobacteria. The pathology is formed against the background of the primary infection, which affects the lungs or intestines. Such a disease falls on the genitals with lymphogenous, contact or hematogenous pathways.

Classification of infection

According to the clinical and morphological characteristics, tuberculosis of genital organs is divided into the following forms:

• Caseous. The disease proceeds with acute and severe processes.
• Chronic. Symptomatic in this form is mild.
• Subacute. There is a significant lesion and exudative-proliferative changes.
• The finished process. There is an encapsulation of the foci.

In addition, tuberculosis, affecting the genitals, can be active, fading and inactive. In the first case, the disease lasts for 2 years, and in the second case it develops within 2-4. Inactive tuberculosis is the process that remains after therapy. When the course of the disease in four years becomes more severe, then there is an exacerbation. And if the signs of genital tuberculosis appeared only after many years, then it is a question of relapse.

Another such disease is classified depending on the area of infection: endometrium, salpingoophoritis and salpingitis. Bacteria of this version of tuberculosis are also divided into MBT (+) and MBT (-).

Causes of pathology development

Infection with such a disease can happen at any age. If a person has strong immunity, then mycobacteria will not manifest themselves immediately, which makes diagnosis difficult.

The latent period sometimes lasts for years and even decades, but with the onset of provoking factors, the symptoms of the disease begin to manifest. For example, if the protective functions of the body worsen, because of severe infections of a different nature, pathologies of internal organs, when exhausted, as a result of stress, prolonged cold, surgical intervention.

When tuberculosis affects the lungs, mycobacteria begin to spread to the genitals. If no symptoms appear at an early stage, the disease will form imperceptibly. Although the presence of signs does not always guarantee that genital tuberculosis will manifest itself.

Tuberculosis of the genitals: symptoms

The main signs of this pathology can occur during adolescence during puberty. It affects mainly the representatives of the weaker sex from 20 to 40 years. Genital tuberculosis after this period is extremely rare.

This infectious disease can occur without obvious symptoms or differ in their diversity. Quite often, the main sign of tuberculosis that affects the sexual organs in women is the impossibility of conception of the child, due to endocrine disorders or infection of the fallopian tubes and mucous side of the vagina.

Other signs of genital tuberculosis

In addition, such ailment can be accompanied by such symptoms as lack of appetite, amenorrhea, weightless slimming, vascular sclerosis, night sweats, acute pains in the abdominal cavity, which is often confused with ectopic pregnancy and appendicitis. In addition, in genital tuberculosis, women are often concerned about unpleasant sensations in the lower abdomen and subfebrile fever.

The defeat of mycobacteria of the genitourinary system

This type of tuberculosis requires timely diagnosis and treatment. The disease begins with tubercular lesions of the organs. First of all, the kidney suffers and only after that the ureter or bladder.

Tuberculosis of the urinary and genital organs is formed, as a rule, during the primary period of the lesion, before the development of the immune system in adolescence and childhood. With such a malaise, there is often a violation of urination, it can be rapid and accompanied by cuts. In some cases, urine is excreted in small portions.

When mycobacteria affect the organs of the urinary system, there is hematuria, aching and blunt pain in the lumbar region, frequent urge to the toilet due to a decrease in the capacity of the urea. Still this disease is capable to provoke occurrence of a pyuria at which in a pee the pus is visible or leucocytes are formed.

Tuberculosis of genital organs in men

This pathology rarely affects young men who have not reached puberty. Mostly men are affected by this disease between the ages of 21 and 50, during the period of increased sexual activity.

There is tuberculosis of male genital organs usually in the form of fistulous, focal, miliary, focal-destructive forms. Patients with a similar diagnosis complain of the appearance of an ulcer on the head of the penis, the presence of a fistula crotch or scrotum, redness of the skin, a decrease in the volume of ejaculate, pus or blood in the sperm, infertility. In addition to all they have swelling of the genital organs, painful orgasm and a decrease in potency.

Many people with this diagnosis feel dull pains that are localized in the perineum, waist, scrotum. When the mycobacteria of the prostate gland or seminal vesicles are affected, constipation and a feeling of heaviness in the rectum often occur.

Forms of the disease

Genital TB in the stronger sex is classified into two main forms:

• An acute stage affects about 30% of people. Characterized by a sudden swelling of the epididymis, strong pain, reddening of the skin of the scrotum, high body temperature, poor health, chills.
• Chronic stage occurs in 70% of people. The disease with this form is lethargic and slow with normal or subfebrile temperature. There are pains of a pulling character, there is a moderate reddening of the scrotum. Eggs appendages are tuberous and dense, often complicated by a fistula or soldered to the skin of the scrotum.

Clinical course of the disease in the weaker sex

Tuberculosis of female genital organs, as a rule, is characterized by an erased manifestation and a wide variety of symptoms. Sometimes the only sign of pathology is the inability to become pregnant. Infertility develops as a result of endocrine disorders, damage to the fallopian tubes or endometrium.

Most patients face a violation of menstrual function: primary and secondary amenorrhea, irregular monthly, oligomenorrhea. There is a similar malfunction in the female body as a result of tuberculous intoxication, lesions of the mucous side of the vagina inside the uterus and the parenchyma of the ovary.

Tuberculosis of the genital organs in women mostly has a chronic course. With this form, the processes of the release of inflammatory fluid from the blood into tissues predominate. The temperature often rises to subfebrile digits. There are aching and pulling painful sensations in the bottom of the abdominal cavity, as the formation of adhesions in the small pelvis, atherosclerosis of internal genital organs and tissue hypoxia.

Tuberculosis of the genital organs with exudative and caseous changes is manifested by symptoms of intoxication:

• Weight loss;
• Periodic fever;
• Constant weakness and fatigue;
• Lack of desire to eat.

And girls with genital tuberculosis can be disturbed by the symptoms of the "acute abdomen", because the peritoneum is involved in the process. Sometimes this condition leads to surgery due to a suspicion of ectopic pregnancy, appendicitis or rupture of the ovary tissues.

Diagnosis of pathology

Tuberculosis of the genital organs in many cases is found during the examination by a gynecologist. At the same time, women turn for other reasons. In the appendages there are changes that appear when the tuberculous inflammatory process develops in them. When a specialist has a suspicion of this disease, he sends the patients to a TB dispensary.

In this medical institution, a woman undergoes a full range of diagnostic activities. The first thing she will take a special skin test to detect active tuberculosis inflammation in the body. To detect the disease, a smear from the genital tract is done. To identify mycobacteria tuberculosis still resort to PCR diagnostics.

Diagnosis of genital tuberculosis also involves the implementation of hysterosalpingography. This procedure allows you to see the violation of patency of one or both fallopian tubes, internal shape of the uterus, constriction, adhesion.

When the foci of the tubercle bacillus are found in the female body outside the genital organs, lung radiography is performed. Even the ladies will have to undergo laparoscopy, because this procedure allows you to examine the internal organs and reveal on their surface a tuberculous inflammation. In addition, it helps to assess the severity of the adhesion process in the pelvic cavity.

How to prevent the development of genital tuberculosis?

To prevent the onset of this disease, it is necessary to start acting at an early age. To the kid from the first month of life it is necessary to do a vaccine against tuberculosis. The repeated inoculation of BCG is carried out at 7, 12 and 17 years. Prevention also means enhancing the immune system and strengthening the body.

Therapeutic measures

Treatment of tuberculosis of genital organs is carried out only in a specialized sanatorium, inpatient or anti-tuberculosis dispensary. To treat this disease using chemotherapy drugs, usually combine at least two drugs of bactericidal action. This takes into account their effectiveness and patient tolerance.

Medications for the treatment of genital tuberculosis

For such purposes, doctors prescribe: metazide, streptomycin, rifamp-picin, isoniazid, ethambutol, kanamycin and other drugs. In the first 12-18 months, biomycin or kanamycin is used in combination with ftyvazid or tubazid. A good result is a combination of ethambutol irifampicin with isoniazid for 15 months.

In addition to antibacterial drugs, patients are advised to use antioxidants and vitamins. Modern chemotherapy significantly reduced the need for surgery in women. Moreover, in cases of problems with the conception of tuberculosis, the plasticity of the tubes is not recommended.

Remember that treating such a pathology is a time-consuming and long process that requires a lot of patience from the patient.