Intestinal tuberculosis is a frequent complication of tuberculosis elsewhere, particularly of the lungs. At autopsy there are signs of tuberculosis of the bowels in approximately 50 per cent of those who die of pulmonary tuberculosis. Intestinal involvement may occur at any stage of the pulmonary infection, early or late, whether active or apparently healed. Naturally it is more common in the advanced and active cases.
Any part of the bowel may be involved. The lesions may be single or multiple, at times very extensive, or even involve the greater part of the bowel. Multiple lesions are the rule. The most common location is the lower ileum or ileocecal region.
The jejunum is frequently involved in the terminal stage of an extensive tuberculosis of the bowels, as shown by the following figures: Fenwick and Dodwell1 found the jejunum involved in 28 per cent of their autopsies in intestinal tuberculosis; Fowler