Untreatable Tuberculosis: Is Surgery the Answer?

The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) in some countries is alarming.  When few therapeutic options remain, old procedures need to be re-evaluated based on evidence, specially, surgery. Surgery combined with medical treatment has the chance of cure if the lesions are limited to some lobes or segments in one lung and the patient is diagnosed as early as possible. From a public health perspective, treating existing drug-resistant cases as soon as possible with all possible means, including surgery, can stop transmission of TB infections within the community.