Intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) developed in 129 of 610 patients (21.2%) with Crohn's disease confined to the small bowel. The location of the abscess was intraperitoneal (IPA) in 109 (17.9%) and retroperitoneal (RPA) in 20 (3.3%). There was a marked preponderance of male patients in the retroperitoneal group (ratio, 18:2) (p less than 0.0001). All 129 patients were operated on. Thirteen of one hundred nine patients (12%) with IPA were reoperated on for recurrent abscess, and nine (8.2%) for other reasons. External fistula developed in 24 patients (22%) after simple incision and drainage. Four (3.7%) died; one from hepatitis, and three from sepsis 5, 14, and 90 days after surgery. Of the 20 patients with RPA, two (10%) were reoperated on for recurrent abscess and four (20%) for other reasons. External fistula developed in two patients (10%). There were no deaths in this group. A small number of patients with IAA complicating regional enteritis had persistent sepsis causing postoperative death, which is, however, six times lower than in our comparable series of Crohn's (ileo)colitis.

We describe herein the case of a 10-year-old boy in whom generalized peritonitis was caused by perforation of a tubular communicating ileal duplication cyst. Alimentary tract duplication cysts are rare congenital malformations, found primarily in children under the age of 15 years. The perforation was caused by heterotopic gastric mucosa within the duplication, giving rise to peptic ulceration in the adjacent intestinal mucosa. The presence of heterotopic gastric tissue is a primary cause of perforation that has been reported in as many as one third of patients with small intestine duplications; however, the detection of such ectopic tissue is time-consuming, and there is no readily available method of diagnosing tubular duplications. Although very few patients present with peritonitis as the initial manifestation, the possibility should be borne in mind when diagnosing and planning therapy for such emergencies, particularly in children.

SUMMARYA total of 105 033 eggs were collected across Japan from June 2010 to January 2011 and tested for Salmonella Enteritidis to provide data for the risk profiling of S. Enteritidis in eggs by the Food Safety Commission of Japan. S. Enteritidis isolates were recovered from three samples (20 eggs/sample) and these samples were different in regard to sampling period, grading and packaging centre and farm. The prevalence of S. Enteritidis in commercial eggs in Japan is estimated at ∼0·003% which was a tenfold decrease in prevalence compared to similar surveillance in the mid 1990s. The decrease in the contamination in commercial eggs is considered a contributory factor in the decrease of foodborne diseases associated with S. Enteritidis in this period.