Clinical thinkings on the diagnosis and treatment of peritoneal effusion / 中国实用内科杂志

ABSTRACT

There is a small amount of liquid in healthy people's abdomen,but excessive liquid in abdomen has been called peritoneal effusion or ascites.Ascites is a common clinical sign.Though many causes can lead to ascites,cirrhosis,malignancy and tuberculosis are more common.According to different causes and physical and chemical properties,ascites can be divided into extravasate and transudate.It is important to distinguish between benign and malignant ascites,but sometimes the differential diagnosis is difficult.In this paper,the characteristics of the ascites,the procedure of diagnosis and treatment are discussed.