Diagnosis of Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis by urine strips is insufficient – a prospective trial at 2 university hospitals

Introduction: SBP (spontaneous bacterial peritonitis) is a major problem of patients with cirrhotic ascites. Rapid and sensitive diagnosis of SBP is pivotal. Diagnosis of SBP is established by ≥250 granulocytes/µl in ascitic fluid. Recently, urine reagent strips for leukocyte esterase detection have been proposed as a faster, cheap and accurate method to detect elevated granulocyte count in ascites (Hepatology 2003;37:893–6). Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic value of urine reagent strips in patients at 2 German university hospitals. Methods: Ascitic fluid samples of patients with cirrhotic ascites were examined u…