The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of peritoneal lavage with saline solution in fecal peritonitis in rats. Thirty six Wistar rats were used, adult, male,weighing 160 to 210 g. The animals were allocated into three groups and submitted to peritonitis induced by homogenized human feces. In group I the procedure was carried out to verify the efficacy of the fecal peritonitis and all animals died after 24 hours of the intraperitoneal injection. After 6 hours of peritonitis evolution , the rats of the group II were submitted to laparotomy and irrigation of the abdominal cavity with saline solution. In this group all the animals were alive after 48 hours of the laparotomy. In group III the rats were submitted to laparotomy and cleaning of the peritoneal cavity with gauze. It was verify that only 6 rats were alive after 48 hours of the laparotomy.The present study demonstrated that the irrigation of the peritoneal cavity with saline solution was able to reduce the mortality rate in rats with fecal peritonitis.
Peritonitis; Infection; Peritoneal lavage