Gastrointestinal parasites of surgical importance and their management — A review

Abstract

Parasitic diseases continue to affect millions of people in the endemic areas causing morbidity as well as affecting the quality of life. The visitors to these endemic areas get infected with these parasites and present a confusing picture to the physicians in their native area. Prolonged exposure to some of these parasites like is a well-known risk factor for malignancy. However, most of these diseases are easily curable. This review article provides a brief description of a few parasitoses like amebiasis, ascariasis, clonorchiasis, opisthorchiasis, and fascioliasis. Their causative agents, disease-causing mechanisms in the host, clinical features, specific radiologic findings, and immunodiagnostic tests are discussed. The medical and surgical aspects of treating these parasitoses are also summarized.