Introduction: Control of infection in peritonitis is the cornerstone of treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of peritoneal cleaning compared to routine peritoneal lavage in terms of early abdominal complications and mortality in patients with focal or diffuse secondary peritonitis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with peritonitis admitted to the Hospital Universitario San Vicente Fundacion (Medellin, Colombia) in the period 2009 to 2015, which met the inclusion criteria and that were taken to surgery for initial infection control by cleaning or routine peritoneal lavage. Results: 406 patients were included, 169 underwent peritoneal cleaning and 237 peritoneal lavage. The finding of peritonitis in more than one quadrant (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.74-5.79), liquid fecaloid/purulent (OR 3.7; 95% CI 1.80-7.73), and not of appendicular origin (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.32-4.38) was associated with the election of peritoneal lavage. Factors related to the development of complications were, ostomy (OR 3.25 95% CI 1.22-8.66), open abdomen (OR 7.0; 95% CI 3.0-16.4), and admission to intensive care unit (OR 3.93 95% CI 1.90-8.13). Lavage is associated with the development of residual peritonitis (OR 4.83, 95% CI 2.02-11.5) when compared with the group of peritoneal cleaning. Conclusions: Conservative management of peritonitis controlling the infectious focus with only cleaning seems to have less complications (residual peritonitis, open abdomen, bacteremia, admission to ICU), and lower mortality than routine lavage. Further studies are needed to validate these findings.