Background: Spontaneous and iatrogenic secondary peritonitis remain to have a mortality of 10-30% and significant socioeconomic impact in survivors and especially non-survivors. Data on the most cost-effective treatment are lacking. We therefore studied outcome and resource utilization in a homogeneous cohort of patients with secondary fecal or purulent peritonitis undergoing surgery with source control and two different types of abdominal lavage.
Methods: Thirty-one consecutive patients with secondary feculent or purulent peritonitis of the lower gastrointestinal tract underwent a single high-volume lavage. That cohort was matched with 31 patients with the same source, extent, and quality of peritonitis treated by source control and staged lavage (intermittent lavage).
Results: Patients in both groups were comparable in gender distribution, age, comorbidity, source, extent, and severity of peritonitis with the history of intestinal perforation in the single high-volume lavage group being significantly higher than in the intermittent lavage group (2.0 +/- 1.7 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.8d; p = 0.008). Patients in the single high-volume lavage group had significantly less operations, thus requiring significantly less operation time (OR-time), intensive care unit (ICU)-requirement, ventilatory support, and inotropic support.
Conclusion: Patients with secondary fecal or purulent peritonitis in at least two quadrants, undergoing a one step surgical repair including source control, primary anastomosis, and single high-volume lavage with more than 25 l have a comparable outcome to patients treated by staged lavage at significantly lower OR and ICU-utilization.