Ga. Delaurier et al., PERITONEAL-FLUID LACTIC-ACID AND DIAGNOSTIC DILEMMAS IN ACUTE ABDOMINAL DISEASE, The American journal of surgery, 167(3), 1994, pp. 302-305
Our previous canine research suggested that the determination of perit
oneal fluid lactic acid levels may he helpful in the evaluation of pot
ential acute abdomen cases. To investigate the clinical significance o
f those findings, we obtained simultaneous peritoneal and plasma lacti
c acid values from patients undergoing emergency celiotomy or in whom
surgical consultation was sought to rule out an acute abdomen. The lac
tic acid value was significantly higher in peritoneal fluid than in pl
asma in patients who were found to have hollow viscus perforation, gan
grenous intestine, peritonitis, or intra-abdominal abscess. In contras
t, the values were similar in patients who did not have those conditio
ns. Our findings suggest that the calculated difference between simult
aneous peritoneal and plasma lactic acid values is a helpful diagnosti
c index for patients in whom the diagnosis of acute abdomen is not oth
erwise obvious.