[Peritonitis following kidney transplantation].

Twenty of 322 renal allograft recipients developed intraperitoneal infections. The mortality was 70% and responsible for 20% of all transplant deaths. Wound infections were the source of the peritonitis in over 50% of the patients, 40% were on high-dose immunosuppression. In contradistinction to the patients who died, the clinical picture of the survivors was characterized by: (1) localized peritonitis, (2) no high-dose immunosuppression, (3) absence of uncommon pathogens like C. albicans and S. marcescens, (4) radical peritoneal debridement with irrigation of the abdominal cavity at the time of surgery.