Development of a point of care testing tool to classify peritoneal effusion as exudate and transudate

Abstract

Background: Recently we developed a bedside test to classify pleural effusion into exudate and transudate but point of care classification of peritoneal effusion is yet not published.

Methods: We analyzed the Boyer's criteria parameters from bloodless peritoneal fluid and classified the biofluid as exudate or transudate and also estimated some parameters of oxidative stress in the biofluid by established spectrophotometric procedure. Two hundred microliters of sample was used and 10 μl of 30% hydrogen peroxide was added, followed by inspection of the sample for the appearance of bubbles.

Results: All exudative ascitic fluids (n=50) have shown the appearance of profuse bubbles within 1 min addition of hydrogen peroxide along with significantly more catalase activity compared to transudate. All transudative ascitic fluids (n=50) have not shown bubble formation within 1 min after the addition of hydrogen peroxide. The exudate does not show bubble formation if added with catalase inhibitors prior to the addition of hydrogen peroxide. Blood mixed transudate have shown profuse bubble formation after the addition of hydrogen peroxide.

Conclusion: The hydrogen peroxide bubbling reaction has the potential to be developed as a point of care test to classify peritoneal fluid as exudate or transudate.