[Experimental peritonitis: sequential bacteriologic study of the lymph and blood].

In 7 dogs with fecal peritonitis, induced by incision of the cecum, and in the same number of control animals the thoracic duct was cannulized at the neck level together with a femoral vein for the purpose of sequential study of the routes of bacterial dissemination. The findings show: a) rapid appearance of germs in lymph and then in blood in animals with peritonitis, b) a progressive increase in the number of species isolated in each sample, and c) that the lymphatic flow and drainage of bacterias lasted throughout the 12 hours that the experiment lasted. The microbes isolated in lymph and blood were related to the flora of the intestinal segment where the infection originated, with development of a large number of anaerobic species.