Refining reflex urine culture testing in the ED

Screening for urinary tract infections is often performed by urinalysis (UA) which measures specific urine elements such as nitrites, white blood cells (WBC), and leukocyte esterase (LE). In our Emergency Department (ED), a positive UA, defined as positive nitrite, or>3 WBC, or positive LE, will automatically generate a urine culture to identify and quantify bacteriuria for specimens ordered as a UA with reflex to culture. Our institution's policy is that antibiotic treatment will be provided for patients with urine culture results yielding 60,000 colony-forming units (cfu) per milliliter (ml).
Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research