Which patients with presumed acute infectious diarrhea in an outpatient setting should undergo gastrointestinal pathogen panel testing?

Which patients with presumed acute infectious diarrhea in an outpatient setting should undergo gastrointestinal pathogen panel testing? Q:A 65-year-old man presents to the clinic with a 7-day history of diarrhea.His medical history is signifi cant for psoriasis treated with abatacept, hypertension, and gastroesophageal refl ux disease.A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) gastrointestinal pathogen panel was ordered, which returned positive results for Salmonella.Advances in multiplex PCR assays have signifi cantly improved the diagnosis of diarrhea in patients in whom testing is appropriate.These assays enable simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens from a single stool sample, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, in as little as 1 hour.Most cases of acute diarrhea are mild and self-resolving.Conditions that warrant gastrointestinal pathogen panel testing include fever, visible blood in the stool, sepsis, severe abdominal pain, hospitalization, persistent diarrhea ( 7 days), advanced age, and immunocompromise. [1][2]2][3] Infl ammatory bowel disease should be considered in patients with persistent diarrhea who have negative results on testing. 1,2ACUTE DIARRHEA DEFINED Diarrhea occurs when the normal physiologic processes of the small and large intestines are disrupted.These organs typically absorb ions, substrates, and water.Diarrhea results from either reduced water absorption or increased water secretion in the intestines, leading to excessive fl uid in the stool.