Peritonitis

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Peritonitis
ICD-10	K65
ICD-9	567
DiseasesDB	9860
MeSH	D010538

Peritonitis Main Page
Patient Information
Overview
Causes
Classification Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis Secondary Peritonitis
Differential Diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Diagnosis and investigations

A diagnosis of peritonitis is based primarily on clinical grounds, that is on the clinical manifestations described above; if they support a strong suspicion of peritonitis, no further investigation should delay surgery. Leukocytosis and acidosis may be present, but they are not specific findings. Plain abdominal X-rays may reveal dilated, oedematous intestines, although it is mainly useful to look for pneumoperitoneum (free air in the peritoneal cavity), which may also be visible on chest X-rays. If reasonable doubt still persists, an exploratory peritoneal lavage may be performed (e.g. in cause of trauma, in order to look for white blood cells, red blood cells, or bacteria).

Prognosis

If properly treated, typical cases of surgically correctable peritonitis (e.g. perforated peptic ulcer, appendicitis, and diverticulitis) have a mortality rate of about <10% in otherwise healthy patients, which rises to about 40% in the elderly, and/or in those with significant underlying illness, as well as in cases that present late (after 48h). If untreated, generalised peritonitis is almost always fatal.

Additional Resources

• Peritonitis disease causes, treatment ...
• All Refer Health article on peritonitis
• Genuit T and Napolitano L. 2004. Peritonitis and Abdominal Sepsis. Emedicine.com
• Health square. 2004. Peritonitis.

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