Abdominal tuberculosis was a common extra-pulmonary form of the disease at Stannington, in which patients had often contracted the bovine strain of tuberculosis (mycobacterium-bovis) through the ingestion of unpasteurised or contaminated milk or from eating contaminated milk.

It most commonly affects the intestinal tract, mesenteric lymph nodes and peritoneum and presents with symptoms such as abdominal pain and distention, diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, and weight loss. Ulcer formation, fibrosis and thickening of the bowel wall are also among the pathological characteristics assigned to abdominal TB. Plain radiographic images may show enteroliths (calculus deposits in the gastro-intestinal tract); obstructions such as dilated bowel loops; calcified lymph nodes or calcified granulomas.

As with other extra-pulmonary forms of TB, primary infection in the lungs may result in haematogenous spread of tubercle-bacilli to the abdomen or by means of direct spread from infected lymph nodes. However in many cases of abdominal TB the primary point of infection is often not through the lungs but through the digestive system there may not be any evidence of any associated pulmonary infection.

There is little evidence of surgical treatments being employed in Stannington to treat abdominal tuberculosis, particularly in the earlier files. Treatment for abdominal TB, therefore, included rest and sunshine as the main methods used alongside the prevention of the putrefaction of bowel contents by reducing the intake of meat and eggs and the administration of charcoal and the occasional dose of mercurial aperient.

Click Images to Enlarge