Abstract
A study was undertaken to define the microbiologic spectrum of septicemia in surgical patients with intestinal diseases, to learn more about its clinical manifestations, and to determine factors related to its pathogenesis and outcome. During a 2 1/2-year period we detected and treated septicemia in 27 patients, of whom ten died. Results indicated that septicemia was caused by a wide variety of opportunistic bacteria or fungi and was produced by infections in a number of anatomic locations. Underlying noninfectious diseases, especially severe malnutrition and cachexia secondary to intestinal conditions and intractable renal failure, often were important determinants of a fatal outcome of infection. Early manifestations of septicemia frequently were subtle, atypical, or mistaken for expressions of other illnesses. The urinary or respiratory tracts and indwelling intravenous catheters served as apparent portals of entry for septicemia in a sizable proportion of the patients; adoption of additional preventive measures for those types of hospital-acquired infections, hopefully, may further reduce the low incidence of septicemia in our patients in the future.
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