Peritonitis

Peritonitis General Information

Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum caused by bacteria or by fungi. The peritoneum is the membrane that covers the internal abdominal organs and has a silk-like appearance. This infection may also come from the buildup of fluid within this membrane as a result of injuries within the body, other inflammations or infections, or it may appear as a complication of peritoneal dialysis. No matter what caused it, Peritonitis is a serious medical condition that requires urgent medical attendance that helps the patient’s organism to fight the infection and to eliminate any underlying medical disorders. As any other infection, this one too requires a treatment based on strong antibiotics. In some more severe cases, surgery is needed to save the patient’s life. In the case that this medical disorder is not discovered in time and left untreated, the complications that often appear throughout the body are considered life-threatening. In the case that a person receives peritoneal dialysis, that person is more prone to develop Peritonitis. To help prevent the occurrence of this infection, the patient must have very good hygiene before, during and after the intervention.

The two main causes of this disorder, as we have said before, are the fluid buildup and the peritoneal dialysis. In the first case, the patient is at high risk of developing cirrhosis and other damages of the liver. This type of infection is called spontaneous. In the second case, the poor body hygiene, unclean surroundings and contaminated equipment are the main risk factors.

Peritonitis Symptoms

Peritonitis Treatment

In most cases, the diagnosis of Peritonitis is based on the present signs and symptoms that have been described above. Usually, if the patient is diagnosed with this kind of condition the main treatment option is surgery, applied without delay. There are some specific features of this medical disorder; they can include leukocytosis and acidosis. Some doctors, for a precise determination, choose to perform abdominal and chest X-rays that can show images of dilated, edematous intestines; others choose to start looking for pneumoperitoneum, which is characterized by presence of air in the peritoneal cavity. There are cases in which none of these procedures help the doctor to determine the exact diagnosis of Peritonitis and then they have to apply another procedure called exploratory peritoneal lavage, especially in cases of trauma which helps the doctors to look for blood cells, bacteria and red blood cells.

Depending on the severity of the patient’s condition there are several treatment options which can include general supportive measures such as intravenous rehydration and correction of electrolyte disturbances, antibiotics which are in most cases administered directly through the vein, but they can also be infused directly into the patient’s peritoneum. Usually, the first choice is to use antibiotics which are targeted against certain types of agents, depending on the cause of Peritonitis. In most cases, once the exact agents that caused the respective disease have been determined the treatment is focused only on them; the most common surgical procedure used to treat this kind of condition is laparoscopy. The surgical approach is useful in performing a full exploration and lavage of the patient’s peritoneum but also to correct any tissue damage which might possible caused the disease. There are cases in which the patient does not require surgery due to the fact that the cause is bacteria. Usually, patients who developed secondary Peritonitis, which usually develops due to another present medical condition that caused an infection, have to be hospitalized and must be put under surgery to remove the infected tissue. It is very important that after the surgery is finished, the doctor treats the main cause of the infection and prevents it from spreading to the surrounding tissues.

There are cases in which the patient needs an undergoing peritoneal dialysis and he also suffers from this type of medical disorder, and then the first option is to receive dialysis for several days while the tissues heal from the existing infection. If the disease reappears the doctor has to stop performing dialysis and choose another procedure. If a patient is receiving peritoneal dialysis he must consider certain steps in preventing this medical condition - Peritonitis to reappear, which include washing the hands before touching the catheter, cleaning the area around the catheter with antiseptic solution each day, and storing the supplies in a cool and clean place. It is very important to treat the condition in an early stage to avoid any complications that can threaten the life of the patient. Amikin is widely prescribed in such clinical cases.