What is urinary tract tuberculosis?

Speaking of urinary system diseases, many friends think that it is just a general inflammation and only requires simple anti-inflammatory treatment. In fact, the causes of urinary system diseases are different, and the degree of harm is different. The most serious harm is urinary system tuberculosis. Because the disease is generally caused by pulmonary tuberculosis, it may endanger the patient's life if it is not treated in time. In order to draw your attention to urinary system tuberculosis, here I will introduce to you in detail what urinary system tuberculosis is.

Urinary tract tuberculosis is part of systemic tuberculosis, most of which are secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis, and a few are secondary to intestinal tuberculosis or bone and joint tuberculosis. It can affect the kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra, prostate, seminal vesicles, testicles, vas deferens, fallopian tubes and other parts. The pathological basis of the radiological diagnosis of urogenital tuberculosis is as follows: when Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads to the urogenital system through the blood or lymph nodes, it often first affects the renal cortex. Under suitable growth conditions, caseous necrosis foci are formed, which then develop into the renal medulla, and then develop into caseous necrosis foci in the renal papilla. They then spread to the renal calyces to form tuberculous cavities, which is the typical symptom of renal tuberculosis. Tuberculosis lesions can spread along the urinary tract to various parts of the urogenital system.

The typical clinical manifestations of urinary tuberculosis are frequent urination, urgency, hematuria or pyuria. Systemic symptoms may include weight loss, low-grade fever, fatigue, or anemia. There may also be no symptoms and the disease may be discovered only during a routine urine test.

Urinary tract tuberculosis is a systemic disease. Therefore, attention should be paid to systemic treatment. Including nutrition, environment, rest, medical treatment and sports, etc. The progress of modern chemotherapy has changed the treatment principles of urinary tuberculosis, which is now mainly based on drug treatment, combined with necessary surgical treatment. Early urinary tract tuberculosis lesions are mild and limited in scope. Most tuberculosis cases can be cured after correct use of anti-tuberculosis drugs. Surgical treatment is only required when the kidneys are severely damaged or there are serious complications of the urinary system, such as ureteral stenosis, tuberculous bladder contracture with contralateral hydronephrosis. The purpose of surgery is to remove irreparable damage, relieve obstruction, and save kidney function.

Commonly used anti-tuberculosis drugs include rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol and streptomycin. Generally, the combination of two or three drugs is more effective, which can delay the emergence of drug resistance and reduce toxic reactions. The combined use of rifampicin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide can shorten the course of treatment to 6 months to 1 year.

After knowing what urinary tract tuberculosis is, I would like to remind you that urinary tract tuberculosis is very different from general urinary tract infections. Therefore, if you are diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis or other tuberculosis diseases, you must pay attention to active treatment to avoid systemic infection of pathogens and reduce the damage of the disease to your body.