Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Table 1 Symptoms and signs of ascitic fluid infection

	Frequency (%)
Symptom or sign	SBP	Bacterascites	CNNA
Fever	68	57	50
Abdominal pain	49	32	72
Abdominal tenderness	39	32	44
Rebound	10	5	0
Altered mental status	54	50	61

© 2007, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Table 2 Pathogens in ascitic fluid infection

	Frequency (%)
Micro-organism	SBP	Bacterascites
Escherichia coli	37	27
Klebsiella pneumoniae	17	11
Pneumococci	12	9
Streptococcus viridans	9	2
Staphylococcus aureus	0	7
Miscellaneous gram-negative	10	14
Miscellaneous gram-positive	14	30

© 2007, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Table 3 Costs of antibiotics used for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Route of administration	Antibiotic	Costs (£)1 including VAT
Intravenous	Ciprofloxacin vial 400 mg	29.60 (per vial)
	Ciprofloxacin vial 200 mg	19.50 (per vial)
	Ofloxacin vial 200 mg	22.63 (per vial)
	Cefotaxime vial 1 g	0.94 (per vial)
	Ceftriaxone vial 1 g	0.91 (per vial)
	Augmentin2 vial 1.2 g	1.35 (per vial)
Oral	Ciprofloxacin tabl 500 mg (10 tablets pack)	0.40 (4 p per tablet)
	Ciprofloxacin tabl 250 mg (20 tablets pack)	0.36 (1.8 p per tablet)
	Norfloxacin 400 mg (6 tablets pack)	2.30 (40 p per tablet)

VAT: Value added tax;

¹£1 approximately €1.45 and US$2.00;

²Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. © 2007, BMJ publishing group, alll rights reserved.