Guest guest Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Whenever you stick something foreign into the body, especially a body cavity that is sterile (the inside of your abdomen and a big needle), you risk infection, in this case peritonitis. This is fairl common in people doing peritoneal dialysis and having run a dialysis program I saw this every few months. We don't use antibiotic prophylaxis when we tap the peritoneal cavity for ascites because you risk creating a very difficult to treat infection then or down the road or causing an infection with C. difficile, a very tough infection to treat and very debilitating. But having said this, ascites is no fun to have, especially if it is severe. This is why they sometimes put a shunt in return the fluid to the venous system. Not often, but sometimes. -- Aubrey MD, PSC 1981, LTX 10/5/98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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