Peritonitis in Patients with Scrub Typhus

Chang-Hun Lee Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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Jae-Hoon Lee Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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Ki Jung Yoon Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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Jeong-Hwan Hwang Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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Chang-Seop Lee Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonju, Republic of Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea

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Various complications have been reported in scrub typhus cases including acute respiratory distress syndrome, encephalitis, pneumonia, pericarditis, acute renal failure, and acute hepatic failure. Few studies have reported on the gastrointestinal manifestations of scrub typhus. Typical gastrointestinal manifestations in patients with scrub typhus include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, hematemesis, melena, and diarrhea. The two cases presented in this study are the first reported cases of peritonitis associated with scrub typhus. This study shows that scrub typhus should also be included in the differential diagnosis of peritonitis in areas where Orientia tsutsugamushi is endemic.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Chang-Seop Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School, San 2-20, Geumam-Dong, Deokjin-Gu, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea. E-mail: lcsmd@jbnu.ac.kr
†These authors contributed equally to this work.

Financial support: This paper was supported by research funds of Chonbuk National University in 2011.

Authors' addresses: Chang-Hun Lee, Jeong-Hwan Hwang, and Chang-Seop Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea, E-mails: 4icarus@hanmail.net, smilehwang77@hanmail.net, and lcsmd@jbnu.ac.kr. Jae-Hoon Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea, E-mails: john7026@hanmail.net. Ki Jung Yoon, Department of Pathology, Wonkwang University College of Medicine, Iksan, Republic of Korea, E-mail: kjyun@wku.ac.kr.

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