Tödlich verlaufende, postoperative peritonitiden: Rechtsmedizinische begutachtung

Peritonitis, a disease with high lethality, is well known in forensic medicine as the cause of sudden death as well as severe complications following abdominal surgery. In the present study, 228 lethal cases of postoperative peritonitis were analysed, concerning 85 females and 59 males aged between 60 and 80 years. Most frequently, peritonitis occurred after endoscopic procedures (51 times), followed by laparotomy (45 times) and laparoscopy (22 times). Most cases occurred in general surgery (73 times) and especially coloscopy (30 times) which led to peritonitis due to perforation of the large intestine. There were 21 cases where medicolegal experts confirmed an error in treatment and in 8 of these cases the error was regarded as the cause of death. A causality could not be confirmed in 13 cases and in 67 cases an error in treatment was refuted.