Utilidad del panel gastrointestinal en adultos con diarrea en un hospital de alta complejidad

Introduction: acute diarrheal disease is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Molecular tests such as the gastrointestinal panel seek to document quickly and more specifically the etiologic agent, thus favoring early therapeutic interventions. However, in Latin American adults there is little evidence regarding their usefulness. Therefore, this study aims to describe the clinical, paraclinical and management characteristics of adult patients with acute diarrheal disease who underwent gastrointestinal panel.

Methodology: cross-sectional study, which included patients over 18 years of age with a diagnosis of diarrhea, who underwent gastrointestinal panel from November 2015 to March 2019, in a Colombian high complexity hospital.

Results: 807 patients were included, 82.6 % of whom had comorbidities, and presented acute diarrhea with a median of three days (RIC 1-7). Of the total number of gastrointestinal panels, 54 % had a microbiological isolation. The most frequent etiology was bacterial (49.2 %), with enteropathogenic E. coli being the main cause (18.6 %). The most commonly used empirical antibiotic was ampicillin/sulbactam (31 %). About 56 % underwent a change of antibiotic, and 18 % were discontinued, mostly secondary to the result of the gastrointestinal panel (79.4 %).

Conclusion: of the adults with diarrheal disease in the present study, bacterial etiology was the main cause, and the result of the gastrointestinal panel was relevant for the change of antibiotic treatment employed, being a useful diagnostic tool in the approach to patients with diarrhea.