TY - JOUR
T1 - Peritoneal lavage in the diagnosis of acute surgical abdomen following thermal injury
AU - Mozingo, D. W.
AU - Cioffi, W. G.
AU - McManus, W. F.
AU - Pruitt, B. A.
PY - 1995/1/1
Y1 - 1995/1/1
N2 - Intraperitoneal sepsis is difficult to diagnose in thermally injured patients. We reviewed the use of diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) in burn patients suspected of having intraperitoneal infection. Seventeen patients were identified in whom celiotomy, autopsy, or complete recovery could be used to validate the lavage results. A lavage was considered positive if there were greater than 500 white blood cells per mm3 or if microorganisms were present on Gram stain. Six patients had a positive DPL and 11 patients had a negative DPL. There were six true positive, no false positive, ten true negative, and one false negative studies resulting in a sensitivity of 0.86, specificity of 1.00, and diagnostic accuracy of 94%. No complications related to the DPL occurred. This procedure is safe and will rapidly and reliably discriminate between patients needing urgent celiotomy and those requiring further investigation to identify a source of sepsis.
AB - Intraperitoneal sepsis is difficult to diagnose in thermally injured patients. We reviewed the use of diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) in burn patients suspected of having intraperitoneal infection. Seventeen patients were identified in whom celiotomy, autopsy, or complete recovery could be used to validate the lavage results. A lavage was considered positive if there were greater than 500 white blood cells per mm3 or if microorganisms were present on Gram stain. Six patients had a positive DPL and 11 patients had a negative DPL. There were six true positive, no false positive, ten true negative, and one false negative studies resulting in a sensitivity of 0.86, specificity of 1.00, and diagnostic accuracy of 94%. No complications related to the DPL occurred. This procedure is safe and will rapidly and reliably discriminate between patients needing urgent celiotomy and those requiring further investigation to identify a source of sepsis.
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U2 - 10.1097/00005373-199501000-00003
DO - 10.1097/00005373-199501000-00003
M3 - Article
C2 - 7745658
AN - SCOPUS:0028890955
VL - 38
SP - 5
EP - 7
JO - Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
JF - Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
SN - 2163-0755
IS - 1
ER -