Usefulness of urine strip test in the rapid diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Abstract

PURPOSE: Rapid and accurate diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is mandatory for timely treatment in cirrhotic patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of two different reagent strips, the UriSCAN and the Multistix10SG, for the rapid bedside diagnosis of SBP. METHODS: A total of 75 paracenteses in 53 cirrhotic patients with ascites were performed. All ascitic fluid was analyzed with the two reagent strips, and compared with the manual cell count with differential and ascitic fluid culture. SBP was defined as an ascitic polymorphonuclear cell count > or =250/mm3. RESULTS: SBP was diagnosed in 18 of the 75 samples. If we considered the positive UriSCAN result of 2 or more, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were all 100%. When we considered the positive UriSCAN result of 3, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 67%, 100%, 100%, and 89%, respectively. When we considered the positive Multistix10SG result of 3, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 50%, 100%, 100%, and 87%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urine reagent strip might be useful for rapid and accurate diagnosis of SBP in cirrhotic patients with ascites.