[Surgical infections with anaerobic bacteria (splenic abscess ruptured into the peritoneum].

A case is presented, of a patient aged 19, who, in the course of otic suppuration treated by tetracycline administration, developed a septicemic condition with a gigantic splenic abscess followed by generalized peritonitis. The initially unfavourable evolution had an improved course following splenectomy and peritoneal drainage, especially after the identification of the anaerobic germs that determined the infection (Bacteroides clostridii formis and Clostridium bifermentans) and the introduction of an adequate therapy.