In a study published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery, researchers from the University of the Saarland in Germany found that levels of procalcitonin -- a precursor to the hormone calcitonin -- fluctuate during the days following surgery. It has been found to be common in the blood of patients with bacterial and fungal infections.

Peritonitis , an inflammation or infection of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity, may develop after an operation that injures the gallbladder, ureter, bladder or intestines causes bacteria to spill into the abdominal cavity. Other causes include bacteria introduced after abdominal surgery. Blood infections, or sepsis, that arise because of peritonitis can lead to the gradual life-threatening shutdown of several organs, called multi-organ dysfunction syndrome.

"Facing this clinical dilemma, there is major interest in the search for an optimum diagnostic tool for an early, noninvasive and reliable diagnosis of abdominal infections and sepsis," the researchers said in a press release. They noted that current procedures call for diagnosing sepsis and abdominal infection with imaging devices and guided aspiration (suction) techniques. "An accurate and readily available biochemical marker for identifying patients at risk for abdominal infections would definitely contribute to easier and safer diagnosis."

Peritonitis is classified as primary, where the source of the bacterial infection is not known, and secondary, when the cause is spillage of gastric contents into the abdominal cavity. The researchers studied 82 patients with secondary peritonitis between 1999 and 2004. Blood samples were taken from the abdomens of every participant and patients were monitored for up to 21 days after the first sepsis symptoms appeared. Researchers looked for levels of procalcitonin as well as C-reactive protein (another marker for inflammation) and lung and kidney failure.

Forty-two patients had lung failure, 25 developed kidney failure, 35 had multi-organ failure and nine people died. The blood test results showed that procalcitonin levels were highest soon after symptoms began or immediately after surgery. Researchers concluded that assessing procalcitonin in the first two days after surgery would likely predict whether there would be multi-organ failure.

Copyright 2007 iVillage Total Health.