Bacterial translocation as a cause of septic shock in humans: a report of two cases

While bacterial translocation has been reported to occur under numerous conditions in animal models, there has been no paper to date focusing on bacterial translocation as a direct cause of septic shock in humans. We present herein the cases of two patients who developed septic shock believed to have been directly caused by bacterial translocation. Neither of the patients had a focus of infection, the intestinal walls were intact in gross appearance, and the peritoneal cavity had not been contaminated by surgery. Moreover, in both patients, the same organisms were detected in the blood, ascites fluid, and mesenteric lymph nodes, and bacilli were found in the intestinal wall.