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Clinical Trial
. 1997 Jul;163(7):501-3.

Duration of postoperative pneumoperitoneum

K T Nielsen  1 , L Lund, L P Larsen, P Knudsen
Affiliations
  • PMID: 9248983
Clinical Trial

Duration of postoperative pneumoperitoneum

K T Nielsen et al. Eur J Surg. 1997 Jul.

Erratum in

  • Eur J Surg 1997 Nov;163(11):880

Abstract

Objective: To find out the duration of postoperative pneumoperitoneum and the factors that are responsible for its persistence.

Design: Prospective open (non-random) study.

Setting: County hospital, Denmark.

Subjects: 32 patients over 18 years of age undergoing abdominal operations during a 6 month period.

Interventions: Abdominal radiographs with the patient in the left lateral position were taken at fixed time intervals until no free air could be seen.

Main outcome measures: The amount of free air and the time postoperatively by which it had disappeared.

Results: In 20 [corrected] patients the air had disappeared within 48 hours and only one patient (3%) had free air for more than five days postoperatively. High body mass index and a small initial amount of free air were associated with the shortest period of postoperative pneumoperitoneum.

Conclusion: Postoperative pneumoperitoneum disappeared within two days in most patients. Heavier patients and patients with small volumes of free air initially had the shortest duration of pneumoperitoneum. There were large variations among patients in the volumes of free air.

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