Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in India and hence early diagnosis and treatment is important to prevent further complications and spread. Diagnosing in children is challenging because the easily available diagnostic tools like radiological screen which is subjective, mantoux test is a marker of exposure, not disease and due to the paucibacillary nature of mycobacterium in children. Hence there is a need of a relatively rapid and confirmative diagnostic tool. Implementation of cartridge‐based nucleic acid amplification tests (CBNAAT) has augmented the detection rates and this was studied in our research in comparison with fluorescent microscopy, mantoux test and chest xray findings. Material and Method: The present study was conducted in Government Medical College, Solapur, 200 study subjects were analyzed, pulmonary and extrapulmonary cases were tested on CBNAAT, fluorescent microscopy, mantoux test and chest xray were used in diagnosing cases. Results: Study showed most cases were from age group 5-10years, gender distribution showed male predominance. 17.5 % cases had history of TB contact. 61.00% cases had BCG scar and most common specimen found in the study was gastric aspirate in 73.00% cases. Cases diagnosed as TB in which TB positive were 20.00% and TB negative were 80.00%. CBNAAT reported 62.50%sensitivity and 62.50% specificity. Conclusion: CBNAAT was advantageous as it could detect cases which are missed by other conventional methods, it is a quick and requires minimal technical training to run the test. Gene Xpert MTB/RIF is a reliable technique for diagnosing extra pulmonary tuberculosis with high sensitivity and specificity.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in India and hence early diagnosis and treatment is important to prevent further complications and spread. Diagnosing in children is challenging because the easily available diagnostic tools like radiological screen which is subjective, mantoux test is a marker of exposure, not disease and due to the paucibacillary nature of mycobacterium in children. Hence there is a need of a relatively rapid and confirmative diagnostic tool. Implementation of cartridge‐based nucleic acid amplification tests (CBNAAT) has augmented the detection rates and this was studied in our research in comparison with fluorescent microscopy, mantoux test and chest xray findings. Material and Method: The present study was conducted in Government Medical College, Solapur, 200 study subjects were analyzed, pulmonary and extrapulmonary cases were tested on CBNAAT, fluorescent microscopy, mantoux test and chest xray were used in diagnosing cases. Results: Study showed most cases were from age group 5-10years, gender distribution showed male predominance. 17.5 % cases had history of TB contact. 61.00% cases had BCG scar and most common specimen found in the study was gastric aspirate in 73.00% cases. Cases diagnosed as TB in which TB positive were 20.00% and TB negative were 80.00%. CBNAAT reported 62.50%sensitivity and 62.50% specificity. Conclusion: CBNAAT was advantageous as it could detect cases which are missed by other conventional methods, it is a quick and requires minimal technical training to run the test. Gene Xpert MTB/RIF is a reliable technique for diagnosing extra pulmonary tuberculosis with high sensitivity and specificity.