Evaluation of urinary leukocyte esterase and nitrite tests for diagnosis of bacterial urinary tract infections in the pediatric intensive care unit

This study included 100 infants and children with some urinary tract symptoms who were selected from the pediatric intensive care unit of Al-Hussein University Hospital. The aim of this work is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the urinary leukocyte esterase and nitrite tests on random urine samples. Also, microscopic urinalysis and urine culture were done to patients with some urinary troubles in the pediatric ICU to provide guidelines for its use. The results showed that the urinary leukocyte esterase test had a sensitivity of 80.36% in detecting leukocyturia [> 10 leukocytes/mm3].The urinary nitrite test had a specifity of 98.01% in detecting bacteriuria. The combination of the urinary leukocyte esterase, nitrite tests and microscopic urinalysis for bacteriuria had a sensitivity of 100%, a specifity of 99.23% and a negative predictive value of 100%. We conclude that, the urinary leukocyte esterase and nitrite tests are rapid screening tests for diagnosis of bacterial urinary tract infections in the pediatric intensive care unit