identifying high and low serum-ascites albumin gradient in ascitic fluid by the point of care dipstick test

Objective: to evaluate the capability of ascitic fluid dipstick results for ph, glucose, andprotein in order to predict a low serum-ascites albumin gradient (saag) at the bedside ofthe patient in the emergency department (ed).methods: this prospective cross-sectional study was conducted during one year in theed of afzalipour hospital in kerman, iran. all patients with diagnostic or therapeuticparacentesis of ascitic fluid were considered as eligible patients. exclusion criteria includedclinical suspicion for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (sbp), any contraindications toparacentesis, and patients’ refusal to participate in the study. dipstick values were obtainedat the bedside, and saag was calculated after the determination of serum and ascitic fluidalbumin by laboratory. a low saag ascitic fluid was defined as the study outcome. wealso used our study population as a test group to evaluate an equation proposed in oneprevious study: k = 0.012 protein?0.012 glucose?3.329 ph+23.498results: a total of 50 patients were enrolled in the study. based on multivariate regressionanalysis, dipstick values for protein and glucose were independently predictive of a lowsaag ascitic fluid (p = 0.23, or = 1.04; and p = 0.001, or = 0.81, respectively). the formulaproposed in one of the previous studies was tested by our data set, with sensitivity,specificity, positive predictive value (ppv), and negative predictive value (npv) at 84%,83%, 84%, and 80%, respectively.conclusion: dipstick test of ascitic fluid for ph, glucose, and protein has an acceptablesensitivity and specificity as a point of care test, but it cannot be recommended as asubstitute for saag determination based on the current findings.