BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment of severe peritonitis, one third of patients still die. The purpose of the present study was to compare the efficacy of several treatments on severe and established fecal peritonitis. METHODS: Forty adult Wistar rats, were submitted to intraperitoneal injection of a rat feces solution. Animals were divided into 8 groups (n = 5): Group 1, control; Group 2, intraperitoneal mechanical cleaning with gauze; Group 3, cleaning with 0.9% saline solution, at 23ºC; Group 4, cleaning with 0.9% saline solution, at 37.8ºC; Group 5, cleaning with 0.5% povidone-iodine; Group 6, cleaning with 0.05% chlorhexidine; Group 7, intramuscular injection of gentamicin and clindamycin; and Group 8, administration of intraperitoneal sugar. RESULTS: The animals of groups 5 and 8 had precocious death. After 72 hours, one rat of each group 2, 3, 4 and 6 survived. No rat of groups 1, 5, 7, 8 survived. However, the animals of Group 7 remained alive for a longer period (72 hours). CONCLUSIONS: Survival occurred only in groups submitted to less aggressive peritoneal cleaning. Besides, only one peritoneal cleaning or a single dose of antibiotic is not sufficient to prevent death due to severe and established fecal peritonitis.
Fecal peritonitis; Sepsis; Treatment; Peritoneal cleaning; Rat
