[Chemical peritonitis complicating the spontaneous rupture of a dermoid cyst of the ovary].

Mature ovarian teratoma is the most frequent benign tumor in premenopausal women. It is usually asymptomatic but complications are possible such as adnexal torsion, infection, malignant transformation or cystic rupture. The latter can be spontaneous or more often occurs during surgery of excision of dermoid cyst. It can rarely result in chemical peritonitis, which is due to the irritation of the peritoneal serosa by the aseptic content of the tumour. We report the case of a patient who undrewent an emergency laparotomy for a chemical peritonitis following a spontaneous rupture of a dermoid cyst. Afterwards, she developed an acute respiratory distress syndrome that required an admission in the intensive care unit and subsequent surgery.