PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PERITONITIS - AN UPDATE

Intraabdominal infections are commonly encountered in clinical practic e and represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The most com mon etiology is contamination of the peritoneal space by endogenous mi croflora secondary to loss of integrity of the gastrointestinal tract which results in secondary peritonitis. Primary peritonitis or spontan eous bacterial peritonitis is less common and usually occurs in the pr esence of ascites without an evident source of infection. Peritonitis associated with chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is not discusse d in this, review. This review summarizes the significant progress whi ch has been made with regard to primary and secondary peritonitis in t he last two decades. The review emphasizes the issues of etiology, pat hogenesis, microbiology, diagnosis, medical treatment and prevention.