TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - INTRAABDOMINAL INFECTIONS AND ABSCESSES A1 - Barshak, Miriam Baron A1 - Kasper, Dennis L. A2 - Kasper, Dennis L. A2 - Fauci, Anthony S. PY - 2017 T2 - Harrison's Infectious Diseases, 3e AB - Intraperitoneal infections generally arise because a normal anatomic barrier is disrupted. This disruption may occur when the appendix, a diverticulum, or an ulcer ruptures; when the bowel wall is weakened by ischemia, tumor, or inflammation (e.g., in inflammatory bowel disease); or with adjacent inflammatory processes, such as pancreatitis or pelvic inflammatory disease, in which enzymes (in the former case) or organisms (in the latter) may leak into the peritoneal cavity. Whatever the inciting event, once inflammation develops and organisms usually contained within the bowel or another organ enter the normally sterile peritoneal space, a predictable series of events takes place. Intraabdominal infections occur in two stages: peritonitis and—if the patient survives this stage and goes untreated—abscess formation. The types of microorganisms predominating in each stage of infection are responsible for the pathogenesis of disease. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/24 UR - accessbiomedicalscience.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1141406322 ER -