Posttraumatisches septisches Abdomen

Abdominal infection has the fifth highest incidence of all posttraumatic infections but has the second highest mortality rate with 25%,pneumonia,with 29%, being the only posttraumatic infection that is more frequently lethal.Posttraumatic abdominal sepsis, on the other hand, has a mortality rate of almost 50%.This rate cannot be reduced except by prompt identification of the correct diagnosis of the underlying injury or complication.This means that delayed laparotomy is strikingly detrimental in these patients, with 46% mortality as opposed to 11% in patients who undergo laparotomy promptly. In parallel with this, the mortality of fresh-onset and localized peritonitis is 14%,whereas that of diffuse purulent peritonitis is up to a devastating 42%.