Bacterial and antibiotic sensitivity pattern in secondary peritonitis at University College Hospital, Ibadan

Background: Peritonitis is inflammation of the peritoneum usually as a result of a localised or generalised infection. Secondary peritonitis which is the more common type follows a pathologic process in a visceral organ. Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis are the commonest organisms isolated from peritoneal fluid of patients with secondary peritonitis. The role of peritoneal cultures and use of antibiotics effective against culture results remains controversial. Some earlier studies revealed that culture result data rarely contributed in a useful way to the patient’s postoperative outcome. Other studies show an improvement in patients’ outcome with antibiotics use according to culture and sensitivity.Objective: This study was conducted to determine the bacterial and antibiotic sensitivity pattern in patients with secondary peritonitis at University College Hospital Ibadan. It was aimed to determine the correlation between peritoneal cultures and outcome of patients with secondary peritonitis, and compare the use of empirical antibiotics and culture-sensitive antibiotics with outcome of patients with secondary peritonitis.