RT Book, Section
A1 Barshak, Miriam Baron
A1 Kasper, Dennis L.
A2 Loscalzo, Joseph
A2 Fauci, Anthony
A2 Kasper, Dennis
A2 Hauser, Stephen
A2 Longo, Dan
A2 Jameson, J. Larry
SR Print(0)
ID 1198219312
T1 Intraabdominal Infections and Abscesses
T2 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 21e
YR 2022
FD 2022
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781264268504
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1198219312
RD 2024/04/25
AB Intraperitoneal  infections  generally  arise  because  a  normal  anatomic  barrier  is  disrupted.  This  disruption  may  result  from  a  variety  of  causes—e.g.,  when  the  appendix,  a  diverticulum,  or  an  ulcer  ruptures;  when  the  bowel  wall  is  weakened  by  ischemia,  tumor,  or  inflammation  (e.g.,  in  inflammatory  bowel  disease);  or  with  adjacent  inflammatory  processes,  such  as  pancreatitis  or  pelvic  inflammatory  disease,  in  which  enzymes  (in  the  former  case)  or  organisms  (in  the  latter)  may  leak  into  the  peritoneal  cavity.  Whatever  the  inciting  event,  once  inflammation  develops  and  organisms  usually  contained  within  the  bowel  or  another  organ  enter  the  normally  sterile  peritoneal  space,  a  knowable  series  of  events  takes  place.  Intraabdominal  infections  occur  in  two  stages:  peritonitis  and—if  the  patient  survives  this  stage  and  goes  untreated—abscess  formation.  The  types  of  microorganisms  predominating  in  each  stage  of  infection  are  responsible  for  the  pathogenesis  of  disease.