title: White blood cell counts in patients undergoing abdominal surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of pre-operative white blood cell counts (WBCC) in patients with an acute abdomen is contentious.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study documents the association between pre-operative WBCC and the extent of intraperitoneal inflammation at the time of surgery in a heterogeneous group of 1166 patients undergoing abdominal surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  WBCC failed to adequately discriminate between groups of patients with varying degrees of intraperitoneal inflammation. For example, only 31% (37/118) of the patients with either free pus or an abscess within the peritoneal cavity had a WBCC > 15.0 x 10(9)/L.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need to replace the WBCC with more powerful predictors of inflammation within the peritoneal cavity.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blennerhassett
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000097:blood / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000097:blood / Q000601:surgery; D011300:Preoperative Care