Prognostic significance of comorbidities in patients with diffuse peritonitis

Summary Background Diffuse peritonitis is a severe disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. Therapy is fundamentally surgical. It is important to identify patients with a significantly worse prognosis and patients who may benefit from more aggressive surgical and postsurgical care such as NPWT (Narrow Pressure Wound Therapy) prior to surgery. We tried to identify a determining factor for higher morbidity and mortality rates resulting in a worse prognosis among initial data and patient comorbidities in order to focus therapy towards more aggressive surgical management. Methods In a group of 274 patients with diffuse peritonitis, we evaluated the type of peritonitis according to effusion, origin, surgery type, and the age, gender, and present comorbidities of the patients, and compared it with the overall mortality, morbidity rate, and duration of hospitalization. Results Patients without comorbidities had a significantly lower burden in both morbidity and mortality. We recorded the highest difference in mortality in patients with two or more comorbidities, with pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, with malignancy and hypertension. Morbidity was found to be significantly exacerbated by the presence of two or more severe diseases, cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and hypertension. Conclusion We identified age, effusion type, and the presence of comorbidities as key factors for the prognosis of our patients—the morbidity and mortality rates were substantially increased in patients with two or more comorbidities, as well as by the presence of cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and hypertension. A more aggressive approach should be considered to improve the prognosis in these patients.