[Postoperative intraabdominal suppurations due to Ristella. Clinical, bacteriological and therapeutic...

From 1972 to 1974, 8 intraabdominal postoperative suppurations due to Bacteroides have been observed at Hospital Beaujon. Three characteristic features of such infections have been analysed: the high frequency of associated jaundice; the difficulty of isolation of the Bacteroides; their specific sensitivity to some antibiotics. In 5 patients, jaundice related to the bacterial infection has been observed; jaundice was of the cholestatic type; it was mainly due to conjugated hyperbilirubinemia; in approximately 50 p.cent of the cases, serum alkalin phosphatases activity and serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activity were moderately elevated; the presence of jaundice did not seem to have any influence on the prognosis. The frequent association to Bacteroids of enterobacteria makes isolation of the Bacteroides difficult. The necessity of some precautions in the handling (storage at 4 degrees C or immediate inoculation in anaerobic conditions) is emphasized. Bacteroides are always resistant to penicillin and to the other broad spectrum antibiotics usually effective enterobacteria. They are sensitive to tetracyclins (5/8), lincomycin (2/4), clindamycin (2/3), rifampicin (8/8), pristinamycin (7/7), carbenicillin (3/3), erythromycin (8/8) and chloramphenicol (8/8).