The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes of 28 dogs
with generalized septic peritonitis treated without postoperative abdominal
drainage. The overall mortality rate was 46%, with most cases of peritonit
is being caused by leakage of the gastrointestinal tract (75%), Etiology of
peritonitis, abdominal cytopathology, total white blood cell count, packed
cell volume, total protein, and results of serum biochemistries were not s
tatistically different between survivors and nonsurvivors. The mortality ra
te of 46% is similar to other studies in which the abdomen was left open po
stoperatively for the management of septic peritonitis, although more advan
ced medical treatment than that used in earlier studies may have positively
affected the outcome. The results of this study show that closure of the a
bdomen after the source of contamination has been successfully corrected, i
n combination with thorough intraoperative peritoneal ravage and appropriat
e postoperative medical management, may be an acceptable alternative method
for the management of septic peritonitis.