Peritoneal lavage in peritonitis: a preliminary evaluation.

Despite advances in therapy based on increasing understanding of the attendant haemodynamic and metabolic derangements, together with the use of antibiotics, diffuse peritonitis remains a life-endangering condition. The mortality rate of diffuse faecal and biliary peritonitis is still about 50% (Dawson, 1964; Means, 1964). Some surgeons believe in cleansing the peritoneal cavity at operation with antibiotic-containing solutions, but the value of this is uncertain and still controversial. Yet experience with the successful management of peritonitis complicating peritoneal dialysis by continuance of peritoneal lavage with the addition of antibiotics suggests that efficient continuous lavage might prove a valuable additional therapeutic technique in generalized peritonitis. This paper reports a controlled evaluation of continuous peritoneal lavage in rats with faecal and biliary peritonitis.