Peritonitis and Intraabdominal Abscesses

Abdominal surgical wound infections cause significant morbidity and expenses and double the length of postoperative hospital stays. The role of antimicrobial therapy in the outcome of infection of the abdominal cavity is difficult to assess. This is primarily because of the often dramatic response to surgical drainage when there is localized infection. Nevertheless, appropriate antimicrobial therapy has been shown to reduce the mortality significantly [11,72]. Antimicrobial drugs are expected to control bacteremia and to reduce suppurative complications if given early. Once suppuration has occurred it may be difficult to cure infection if antimicrobial drugs are used without drainage. Cultures of peritoneal fluid or abscess pus often yield the responsible organisms. However, antimicrobial therapy should be started immediately, and this means that it has to be initiated before the completion of in vitro antimicrobial sensitivity testing of any specific