title: Infections within the peritoneal cavity: a historical perspective.
abstract: Physicians in antiquity dreaded abdominal infections. Despite the fact that peritonitis was extremely common, reports of successful surgical interventions were only anecdotal before the past century. Medicine's comprehension of the pathophysiology of the peritoneal cavity is still evolving. The history of our understanding of the process could be considered to be as recent as the current literature. Despite this, the mortality rates for patients with secondary peritonitis have fallen in the last century from almost 100 per cent to less than 10 per cent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans 70112, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steeb
authors.forename: Y Z
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Siegrist
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: O'Leary
mesh_terms: D004534:Egypt; D005060:Europe; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery