THE USE OF PENICILLIN IN THE TREATMENT OF PERITONITIS
- 30 December 1944
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in JAMA
- Vol. 126 (18) , 1132-1134
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1944.02850530010003
Abstract
Peritonitis is the cause of death of 92 per cent of those patients who die after being admitted to a hospital with the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, according to the results of a survey made in Philadelphia by Bower and his associates.1 Peritonitis is also a frequent cause of death in ruptured "peptic" ulcer and penetrating wounds of the abdomen. Whether the administration of penicillin may provide any hope for a favorable outcome in fulminating, diffuse peritonitis may be readily ascertained by a controlled study in animals. For example, Bower and his associates1 have described a method for the production of peritonitis in the dog by occlusion of the blood supply of the appendix and the subsequent oral administration of castor oil. The bacteriologic flora of this experimental peritonitis is quite similar to that of peritonitis in man.2 In addition, it has been found that the mortality fromThis publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: