Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Point-Counterpoint: Reflex Cultures Reduce Laboratory Workload and Improve Antimicrobial Stewardship in Patients Suspected of Having Urinary Tract Infections.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are frequent and lead to a large number of clinical encounters. A common management strategy for patients suspected of having a urinary tract infection is to test for pyuria and bacteria by urine analysis (UA) of midstream urine, with initiation of antibiotic therapy and urine culture if one or both tests are positive. Although this practice was first used in an outpatient setting with midstream urine samples, some institutions allow its use in the management of catheterized patients. The ideas behind the reflex urine culture are to limit laboratory workload by not performing culture on negative specimens and to improve antimicrobial stewardship by not giving antimicrobials to patients with negative UA results. The questions are, first, whether reflex urine culture reduces workloads significantly and, second, whether it improves antimicrobial stewardship in the era of increasing numbers of urinary tract infections due to extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli. Romney Humphries from UCLA supports the idea that reflex urine cultures are of value and describes what reflex parameters are most useful, while Jennifer Dien Bard of Children's Hospital Los Angeles discusses their limitations.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app