Peritonitis
Overview
Peritonitis is an infection of the inner lining of your tummy. Left untreated, it can become life threatening.
Symptoms
Symptoms of peritonitis include: tummy paina very high temperature, or feeling hot, cold or shiverya rapid heartbeat (your heart is beating more quickly than normal)not being able to pee or peeing much less than normal You might also have: a lack of appetite and feel or be sicka swollen tummy If you're having kidney dialysis treatment, the fluid in the collection bag might look cloudier than usual or contain white flecks.
Causes
The lining of the tummy (peritoneum) covers internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel. If the lining becomes infected and you get peritonitis, the internal organs it covers can also be damaged. This most often happens because of things like: a burststomach ulceraburst appendixdigestive problems, such asCrohn's diseaseordiverticulitispancreatitissurgeryinjury to the stomachpelvic inflammatory diseasecirrhosis Rarely, if bacteria gets intoperitoneal dialysisequipment used to treat people with kidney failure, this can cause infection.
Treatment
If you're diagnosed with peritonitis, you'll need treatment in hospital to get rid of the infection. Treatment usually involves being given antibiotics into a vein (intravenously). If you have regular kidney dialysis, your doctor might discuss a different way of doing it until the peritonitis has been treated. It can be difficult to digest food if you have peritonitis. A feeding tube might be passed into your stomach through your nose or placed inside your stomach using keyhole surgery. If a feeding tube cannot be used, liquid nutrients can be given directly into one of your veins.