Streptococcus bovis as a Cause of Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) and the Role of Colonoscopy

Abstract

Introduction Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is an infection of ascitic fluid in the absence of any intra‐abdominal, surgically treatable source of infection with a reported incidence in ascetic patients of up to 30%. Bacterial translocation is believed to be the mode of infection with the most common pathogens being enteric pathogens, including Escherichia coli (∼70%), Klebsiella species (∼10%), Proteus species, Enterococcus faecalis (∼4% each), Pseudomonas species (∼2%) and others (∼6%) [1]. Streptococcus bovis as an isolate of ascetic fluid is uncommon and less than 20 cases have been reported in the literature [2]. We describe a case of streptococcus bovis SBP and consider the role of colonoscopy in these patients.