Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a life-threatening infection in patients with cirrhosis. Depending on the clinical setting, the prevalence and mortality rates of SBP in cirrhosis range between 1.5-30% and 10-46%, respectively. The purpose of this study was to assess the yearly trend in SBP prevalence, length of stay and mortality among hospitalized cirrhosis [...]

Background: Ceftriaxone or cefotaxime has been the drug of choice to treat spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) for many years, but little is known about microbiology, resistance rate to cephalosporines, and clinical outcomes over the last few decades. Our study aimed to describe the clinical and microbiological characteristics of culture-positive SBP at University of Kentucky Hospital. [...]

Background: Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) is associated with high mortality.  A recent article[1] showed that, in the setting of SBP, delayed paracentesis was associated with increased mortality.  Because of the clinical ramifications of this association, we attempted to recreate this finding using our local patient population. Methods: Similar to the study that prompted this inquiry, [...]

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a commonly encountered complication of end stage liver disease that carries a high morbidity and mortality. Risk factors for SBP are defined by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) as a prior history of SBP, active gastrointestinal bleeding, and low ascites total protein (< 1.5 [...]

Case Presentation: A 50-year-old Filipino man with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus presented with 4 days of fever, abdominal pain and distention. He endorsed unintentional weight loss of 30lbs over the last year as well as a chronic cough. The physical exam was notable for bibasilar lung crackles and abdominal distention with diffuse tenderness [...]

Case Presentation: A 49 year-old woman with end stage renal disease on peritoneal dialysis (PD) for the past year, presented with progressively worsening abdominal pain, fevers, and nausea. This was her second presentation as she had been treated with antibiotics for presumed culture-negative PD-catheter-associated bacterial peritonitis three weeks earlier without improvement. Admission vital signs and [...]

Case Presentation: A 55-year old female with no reported past medical or surgical history presented for evaluation of sharp epigastric pain radiating into her lower abdomen. The pain began two days prior upon awakening with associated bloating. She also reported nausea worsened by food but denied vomiting. Her last bowel movement was one day prior [...]

Case Presentation: A previously healthy 50-year-old man presented with 4 days of abdominal distension and subjective fevers at home. He was from rural Guatemala originally, now moved to Irvine, California. He denied any noxious habits including alcohol consumption, other travel history, or occupational exposures. On presentation, vital signs were stable except for slight tachycardia to [...]

Case Presentation: A 47-year-old previously healthy male was referred from another hospital with fever, dry cough, abdominal pain and diarrhea for about one month. He also had unintentional weight loss of 33 lbs and abdominal distention over 2 months. He was originally from Nigeria and had moved to Japan 10 years ago. A physical exam [...]

Case Presentation: A 46-year-old male with alcohol use disorder and cirrhosis presented to the emergency department for 1 day of persistent ascitic fluid leakage from his umbilicus. Exam was significant for ascites and a reducible, ulcerated umbilical hernia. The ulcer was cleaned, sealed with skin glue, and the patient was discharged. He presented again 7 [...]