Case Report - Acute Chylous Peritonitis

Acute abdomen with signs and symptoms of peritonitis due to sudden extravasation of chyle into the peritoneal cavity is a rare condition. The chronic form of chylous ascites, also uncommon, does not produce acute symptoms and many of them are secondary to other intra-abdominal pathology. The acute form of chylous ascites is without any detectable cause in majority of the cases. Patients present with signs and symptoms of acute abdomen indistinguishable from peritonitis due to perforation of hollow viscus. Complete recovery is the usual outcome. We report a recently treated case because of its rarity.