Effect of abdominal operations on survival after septic challenge in normal rats

We evaluated the effect of 60% small-bowel enterectomy that removed 75% of Peyer's patches, and the effects of lesser abdominal operations, on the survival of rats following inducement of peritonitis. We divided 286 female Fischer rats weighing 140 to 200 g into four experimental and two control groups. Following enterectomy, rats recovered for ten to 14 days before peritonitis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 0.7 mL/100 g of body weight of a solution of 4% hemoglobin and Escherichia coli (10(9)/mL). At 48 hours after enterectomy, the survival rate was better than that in rats not operated on or anesthetized. Survival rates for rats having lesser intra-abdominal operations were significantly greater after peritonitis than the rates for controls, but were similar to rates for rats having enterectomies. Our results suggest that intra-abdominal operation of minimal or large magnitude is associated with improved survival from hemoglobin-E coli adjuvant peritonitis.