ARTIFICIAL RAISING OF PRESSURE IN SUBCUTA NEOUS ABSCESS FOLLOWED BY SYSTEMIC REACTION

Abscess is customarily thought of as a collection of a large number of microorganisms, inflammatory cells and necrotic debris separated from the surrounding tissue by a fibrous capsule. Modern work focussed att ention on more physico-chemical parameters in abscess pathogenesis. Re cent experiences from animal models underline the impact of abscess pr essure and bio-physicochemical parameters in the ''abscess compartemen t'' for systemic spreading. Arteficial raising of abscess-pressure in pigs up to 80 mmHg was followed by increase of temperature and heartbe at rate and decrease of median arterial pressure. Elevated levels of T NF alpha, IL-1 and positive blood cultures support the theory of absce ss pressure as a most important variable in abscess formation. We conc lude that abscess pressure may play a pivotal role in systemic spreadi ng of the primarily localized process.