Abstract

DO AMARAL FERREIRA, Mariana et al. Microbiological profile of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in a Southern Brazilian City. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2013, vol.28, n.3, pp.191-198. ISSN 0120-9957.

Introduction: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), one of the most frequent infectious complications experienced by patients with decompensated cirrhosis and ascites, has a  high mortality rate. Objective: Our objective was to identify the main agents causing SBP at a University Hospital between 2008 and 2011. Methods: A cross-sectional study of positive results from ascitic fluid cultures was carried out. Clinical and laboratory variables were extracted from the medical records. Results: 47 patients with positive ascitic fluid cultures were included. Average age was 55.7 years ± 15.5 years, 70.2% were men, and 53.6% of patients presented cirrhosis. All cirrhotic patients presented GASA ≥ 1.1 and mean neutrophil count in the ascitic fluid of 3,260.8 ± 5,122.9 cells. The most frequent germs found were Escherichia coli (25.5%), Klebsiella (14.9%), Enterococcus (8.5%) and Streptococcus (8.5%). No significant differences were observed between cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients regarding the prevalence of E.coli (19.2% vs. 33.3%; P=0.270), Klebsiella (19.2% vs. 9.5%; P=0,436), Enterococcus (7.7% vs. 9.5%; P=1.000) or Streptococcus (15.4% vs. 0.0%; P=0.117). The presence of infection by two or more germs was more common among individuals without cirrhosis (11.5% vs. 38.1%; P=0.047). Conclusion: The microbiological profile of ascitic fluid cultures showed a prevalence of gram-negative bacteria similar to other studies related to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

Keywords : Hepatic cirrhosis; peritonitis; ascitic fluid.

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