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White blood cell counts in patients undergoing abdominal surgery
L Blennerhassett1, J L Hall, J C Hall
1University Department of Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia.
Background:
The role of pre-operative white blood cell counts (WBCC) in patients with an acute abdomen is contentious.
Methods:
This study documents the association between pre-operative WBCC and the extent of intraperitoneal inflammation at the time of surgery in a heterogeneous group of 1166 patients undergoing abdominal surgery.
Results:
WBCC failed to adequately discriminate between groups of patients with varying degrees of intraperitoneal inflammation. For example, only 31% (37/118) of the patients with either free pus or an abscess within the peritoneal cavity had a WBCC > 15.0 x 10(9)/L.
Conclusions:
There is a need to replace the WBCC with more powerful predictors of inflammation within the peritoneal cavity.