[Surgical therapy of abdominal infection--reliable strategies]

The differential treatment of abdominal sepsis is based on surgical eradication of the infectious focus, intensive care, and administration of antibiotics. The eradication of the focus can be done by interventional or operative procedures. Between January 1980 and December 2000, 2214 patients with peritonitis were treated in AK Hamburg-Altona. A total of 1520 cases were successfully treated by standard therapy; 694 cases needed treatment by staged lavage. The postoperative mortality in this group was 17.3%. Objective comparison is difficult because of diversity of patient groups and the complexity of chosen surgical therapy. Therefore none randomized clinical study does exist up to the present. Indication and application of selected therapeutic technique result from clinical criteria and experience.