[Diffuse peritonitis--the danger persists]

An analysis of 127 case histories of patients with diffuse peritonitis treated in the clinic during 1979-1982 has been made. But for all the complex intensive treatment, generalization of the inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity has been shown to cause high mortality rate (76%). The patients' age substantially aggravated the prognosis. 79% of the victims were older than 60. In 56,6% of cases the development of peritonitis had different complications, 11% needed relaparotomy to treat the complications. Late diagnosis of the disease was specifically responsible for unsatisfactory results--two thirds of the patients had toxic or terminal stages of the disease.