Aim: A perforated peptic ulcer is the most common cause of peritonitis through the perforation of the digestive tube, which occurs in a percentage between 2% and 14% of patients diagnosed with peptic ulcer and being associated with a 10% to 30% mortality rate.
Materials and methods: Considering the above, we imagined a study, using laboratory animals, in which we produced gastric perforations, then followed their evolution without antibiotic treatment and under antibiotic therapy with Cefuroxime 25 mg∕kg∕24 hours intravenously or Meropenem 40 mg∕kg∕24 hours intravenously, following the tissue changes both macroscopically and microscopically.
Results: The study revealed a mortality of 36.6%, most deaths (81.82%) occurred in the first 24 hours after the perforation, all subjects belonging to the group that did not receive antibiotic treatment and the group treated with Cefuroxime. From a clinical point of view (evaluation of the general condition), macroscopically and microscopically, a better evolution of the subjects who received antibiotic therapy can be observed, compared to those who did not receive antibiotic therapy, thus in the case of subjects who received antibiotic therapy, the absence or the presence of a small amount of intraperitoneal fluid, which has a serocitrine appearance, as well as the absence of macroscopic changes at the level of unaffected intraperitoneal organs, can be observed. Microscopically, it can be seen that in the subjects treated with Meropenem, changes in the parietal peritoneum were minimal.
Conclusions: Antibiotic therapy with Meropenem in acute peritonitis has a survival rate comparable to peritoneal lavage and source control.