Differential Diagnosis between Intestinal Tuberculosis and Crohn's Disease
Intestinal tuberculosis often exhibits symptoms of extraintestinal tuberculosis, whereas Crohn's disease generally does not show signs of extraintestinal tuberculosis. Recurrence of intestinal tuberculosis is not common, whereas Crohn's disease has a longer duration and alternates between remission and relapse. Fistulas, abdominal abscesses, and perianal lesions are relatively rare in intestinal tuberculosis, but Crohn's disease may involve fistulas, abdominal masses, and perianal lesions. Tuberculin skin tests may be positive in patients with intestinal tuberculosis, while in Crohn's disease patients, the test may show a weakly positive result. After antituberculosis treatment, symptoms in patients with intestinal tuberculosis can significantly improve, whereas there is no significant improvement in symptoms in Crohn's disease patients following antituberculosis treatment. Furthermore, histopathological examination in patients with intestinal tuberculosis may reveal Mycobacterium tuberculosis and caseous necrosis. In contrast, Crohn's disease patients show negative results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pathologic testing and do not exhibit caseous necrosis.