Fecal Peritonitis: What Is this?

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.

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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.

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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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