Fecal Peritonitis - What is this?
Q.
My sister has recently died of fecal peritonitis I think it is something to do with the bowel? Can you enlighten me please.
(Ms Patricia Smith, 30 November 2008)
A.
Fecal peritonitis is a medical condition that affects the peritoneal cavity. The abdominal cavity, the space in the body that houses such internal organs as the stomach, liver, and kidneys, is lines with two layers called the peritoneum that holds the abdominal cavity in place and allows movement between the body and the abdominal cavity. The space between these two layers is called the peritoneal cavity.
What Is Peritonitis?
Peritonitis is the term used to describe the inflammation of the peritoneal cavity or the membrane layers that create the peritoneal cavity. When these two layers become inflamed, irritated, or infected the sufferers experience abdominal pain and other symptoms.What Causes Peritonitis?
Peritonitis can have many causes but the most common is the introduction of a foreign substance in to the cavity that causes infection. Ulcers, intestinal infections, inflammatory bowel disease, and appendicitis can all result in perforations of the stomach, intestines, or duodenum and allow the leakage of fluid into the peritoneal cavity. These fluids cause infection that inflames the layers.With fecal peritonitis fecal matters is allowed into the cavity through a tear in the intestines. Intestinal disease, which leads to a weakening and break down of the intestinal wall, and certain medical procedures, such as endoscopes where a tube with a camera is inserted into the rectum in order to view the intestines, can result in tearing of the intestinal wall.
What Are The Symptoms Of Fecal Peritonitis?
Fecal peritonitis results in the same symptoms as other forms of peritonitis: abdominal pain, abdominal tenderness, and rigidness of the abdominal wall. Other symptoms that may present include weight loss, fever, increased heart rate, and constipation or diarrhoea. Other symptoms can be present depending on the original cause of the perforation and the body organs that are affected by that perforation.What Is The Treatment For Peritonitis?
Most cases of peritonitis are treated with antibiotics (to kill the infection present in the body), and intravenous rehydration (to replace fluids lost through decreased digestion). Usually more than one antibiotic is necessary in order to properly treat all of the stages and causes of infection and ensure the total destruction of the infections cause. Surgery to repair the perforation is almost always necessary also. This surgery, called a laparotomy, allows the doctor to close the perforation and clean out the peritoneal cavity to help prevent further infection.
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Comments...
My dad is in ICU at the time I write this,I have read your comment and everything you have put is the same for my Dad,we have had the consultant chat with us today and her words have destroyed all of us the family.But my dear dad is fighting this terrible disease due to there lack of care,With the prime minister telling us the NHS is improving, would like him to show as to where.As we have seen no evidence of this,I hope and PRAY with all my heart my dad is strong enough to pull through this and we are able to bring him home.
cressy - 3 January 2012 @ 3:57 PM
My mother suffered fecal peritonitis back in the 90's due to the consultant negligently
Perforating her sigmoid colon during a routine laparoscopy. She was released as day case. Within 24 hours she was in severe pain and re-admitted with suspected bowel injury. Thanks to the incompetence of the hospital (UK NHS) she was left for three days before a general surgeon saw her and rushed her into theatre. He had to perform a colostomy, she had generalised fecal peritonitis and as not expected to survive. To add insult to injury, during the emergency laparotomy an incompetent anesthetist allowed her to swallow stomach fluid into her lungs causing aspiration and the creme de la creme was putting the drip line into the charotid artery causing my poor mum to have stroke. They also had to perform a tracaeotomy in the ICU as she couldn't cough up the phlegm. After 6 months the colostomy was reversed, and THEN my mum developped epilepsy. After 6 years she got compensation.... no way near enough as they ruined. Her life and made her suffer. We also suffered. She recovered however now the full effects of the stroke are showing. She is the shell of what she used to be and will have pain al her love. The final legacy from that nightmare hospital and incompetent surgeon is that she has now been diagnosed with Pulmunary Fibrosis. The British medical negligence system is wicked. I remember how poor Katherine Zeta Jones sued Hello Magazine for millions because they printed a wedding pic with her eating cake and she was emotionally damaged because she didn't want the public to think all she did was eat!!!! My mum was ruined and destroyed both physically and emotionally and even though the medical reports showed the hospital was negligent the callously tried every ploy to get us to settle. We eventually did settle out of court as my parents were on the verge of a breakdown.
So yes, fecal peritonitis is deadly and if not treated can ruin your life or even kill you. God bless you, Mum. At least the Good Lord spared you.
Riyadh1974 - 3 December 2011 @ 3:22 PM
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