Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common cause of infection-related death globally. Around 5 to 45% of TB cases have extra-pulmonary manifestations, and in those, 30 to 40% cases involve the urogenital tract. Genitourinary tuberculosis (GUTB) is defined as a urinary tract infection or genitalia by bacilli of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex. The term genitourinary tuberculosis was coined by a Swiss urologist, Hans Wildbolz, in 1937. Following pulmonary tuberculosis, around 2 to 20% of individuals may develop genitourinary tuberculosis after a latency of 5 to 40 years.
GUTB can refer to TV affecting the urethra, bladder, ureters, or kidneys in both sexes, the scrotum, penis, testes, epididymis, or vas deferens in males, and vulva, vagina, cervix, uterus, ovaries, or fallopian tubes, in females. However, urinary tract TB occurs more frequently when compared to genital TB. GUTB becomes important as it is often diagnosed late, and this delay can lead to complications such as urethral or ureteric strictures, renal failure, infertility, as well as a myriad of other complications which necessitate specialist care.
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