Acute appendicitis and continuous peritoneal lavage.

In a series of 117 patients of all ages who were found to have acute appendicitis with perforation, it was found that continuous peritoneal lavage started immediately after appendicectomy had a significant effect in reducing the morbidity and complication rate of this condition. The treatment lasted on average 18 hours and approximately 40 litres of dialysate were used per patients. Treatment was continued until the effluent was macroscopically clean.