Word: peritoneum
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...postoperative condition called "starch peritonitis." The condition, which develops anywhere from ten to 40 days after surgery and produces fever, cramping and abdominal pain, was first believed by doctors to be the result of intestinal obstructions. But those who reoperated discovered no blockages but pearly white nodules on the peritoneum, or abdominal sac. Tests and experimental treatments demonstrated that steroid drugs effectively combatted properly diagnosed starch peritonitis, and the lumps disappeared. The Lancet's editors urge doctors not merely to rinse off the starch substance, as that could worsen matters by clumping the starchy residues; they must wash...