Peritonitis is a severe medical condition that can become life-threatening if left untreated. Whether you're a healthcare professional or interested in learning about this serious medical condition, this article will provide valuable insights and information. This article will dive into Antonio's memories, who suffered from peritonitis at 13.
About the Disease
Peritonitis is a disease that originates in the abdominal area,
situated between the chest and pelvis. It occurs when the
peritoneum, a thin layer of tissue that covers the inside of the
abdomen, becomes inflamed. Generally, peritonitis is caused by a
bacterial or fungal infection.
There are two types of peritonitis.
The first is spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, which is an
infection caused by bacteria. It can occur when a person has liver
disease, such as cirrhosis or kidney disease.
Secondary peritonitis is a type of peritonitis that can be caused by
a hole within an abdominal organ, also called a rupture.
Alternatively, it can be caused by other diseases as well.
About the Patient
For anonymity purposes, we will refer to our interviewee as Antonio.
Antonio will take us back to when he was thirteen years old when a
simple abdominal discomfort and fever turned into months of fighting
for recovery.
At thirteen years old, Antonio knew something was wrong when he
started feeling pain in his stomach. His stomach felt stiff, and
soon, he felt unwell as the fever arose. His discomfort became even
more trying as his fever refused to subside, and an unexpected
puncture appeared in his left shoulder blade.
Diagnosis, Recovery, and Complications
The doctor explained to Antonio that the pain in his left shoulder
blade was a reflex due to his stomach pain. He was immediately sent
to the operating room when they discovered his peritonitis. During
his operation, he had a cardiac arrest. Antonio was clinically dead
for a few moments until he was resuscitated. After a few hours, he
woke up in the common room with a nasogastric tube to prevent
vomiting and was given medication through an IV. Finally, he was
discharged.
Three days after his recovery, the fever returned, and he was taken
back to the hospital, where he had a computed tomography scan. The
doctors discovered an abscess underneath his diaphragm and inserted
a catheter to drain it. They explained that maybe some time ago, he
had injured that area, and when he had peritonitis, the infection
lodged in that weakened part. Antonio said, "It was better for me to
have caused an abscess instead of a tumor."
It took another thirty days in the hospital to drain the abscess,
but it was not completely clean, so there was another operation to
clean the spot; they cut his rib and dug out the pus with their
hands. During the surgery, he had a respiratory arrest (he stopped
breathing), but they managed to stabilize him. They did an "open
healing," where they left the wound open to be able to treat him
again quickly. Finally, after 15 days, he was discharged.
Fifteen more days later, he had an adhesion in his intestines, which
was a consequence of the first operation for peritonitis. In the
first operation, they had to remove all the intestines from his body
and clean them because they were with pus. When they put his
intestines back, they did not do it perfectly in the original way,
causing them to twist when Antonio ate and digested. The doctors
removed the piece that was knotted with another operation. He was in
the hospital for fifteen days before being discharged.
The Experience
From the memories of what was once a thirteen-year-old boy, Antonio
describes his experience as bland, with a lot of hunger and delay in
his studies: "I lost six months of classes. The complete recovery
was very slow since, without a piece of rib, I had no firmness in my
trunk. Until I gained muscle mass, I was not fully recovered. In
school, I couldn't do physical education because any blow could
cause the rib to puncture my lung."
Despite those setbacks during his childhood, Antonio achieved a
complete recovery. At the age of 51, he sees his experience as an
opportunity to keep living since, if they had taken more time to go
to the hospital, we would not have been able to know his story.
Sources
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peritonitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20376247