UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: UTI Calculator

Keywords: UTIcalc, SBI, serious bacterial infection, febrile infant, urinary tract infection (PubMed Search)

Posted: 9/13/2019 by Mimi Lu, MD
Click here to contact Mimi Lu, MD

Question: In febrile children younger than 2 years, what combination of clinical and laboratory variables best predicts the probability of a urinary tract infection?

Given that urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most common source of serious or invasive bacterial infections in young febrile infants, early identification and treatment has the potential to reduce poor outcomes. Wouldn't it be great if there was an easy way to identify patients at highest risk?

Researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh formulated a calculator (UTICalc) that first estimates the probability of urinary tract infection (UTI) based on clinical variables and then updates that probability based on laboratory results.

The nested case-control study of 2,070 children aged 2 to 23 months with a documented temperature of 38°C or higher
In contrast with the American Academy of Pediatrics algorithm, the clinical model in UTICalc reduced testing by 8.1% (95% CI, 4.2%-12.0%) AND decreased the number of missed UTIs.

Bottom line:

The UTICalc calculator can be used to guide to tailor testing and treatment in children with suspected urinary tract infection with the hope of improving outcomes for children with UTI by reducing the number of treatment delays.

Go ahead and give it a click!! https://uticalc.pitt.edu/

References

Shaikh N, Hoberman A, Hum SW, Alberty A, Muniz G, Kurs-Lasky M, Landsittel D, Shope T. Development and Validation of a Calculator for Estimating the Probability of Urinary Tract Infection in Young Febrile Children. JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Jun 1;172(6):550-556.