Quality assurance in the management of peritonitis: a prospective study

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of care indicators in the management of peritonitis. A total of 124 cases with diagnosis of secondary and tertiary peritonitis were included. Detailed clinical history, examination, relevant investigations and details of operative findings were noted. The following quality indicators-surgical consultation time, waiting period for surgery, diagnostic accuracy, antibiotic utilization pattern, morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay, and accessibility of service to patients were assessed. The mean age of patient was 37.4 years with male to female ratio of 4.4:1. More than half of the patients (51.6%) surgical consultation time was less than half an hour. Majority of patients (67.7%) were operated only after 6 hours. Duodenal ulcer perforation was the commonest etiology for peritonitis and the clinical diagnostic accuracy was 97.3%. The commonest bacteria isolated from peritoneal fluid culture was E. coli which was sensitive to Amikacin mostly. The overall morbidities were seen in 20.1% of patients and burst abdomen was the leading complication. A total of 8 patients (6.4%) died in this study and when Mannheim's peritonitis index (MPI) score was compared, score of more than 26 was found to be a significant predictor of mortality (p<0.0001). Most of the patients after reaching the tertiary care hospital were managed satisfactorily. Though there are lots of parameters that still need to be improved.