BackgroundAcute gastroenteritis (AGE) is diagnosed with a presentation of > 1episode of vomiting and > 3 episodes of diarrhea in a 24-h period. Treatment issupportive, however, in severe cases antibacterial treatment may be indicated. Stoolcultures can detect the responsible pathogenic bacteria and can guide antibiotictreatment, however, the indication for and efficacy of stool cultures is debatable. Thisstudy aimed to address the clinical utility of stool cultures in patients diagnosed withAGE.MethodsA retrospective, multicenter study was performed in patients admitted forAGE from 2012 to 2014. Patient charts were obtained through hospital software usingICD-9 codes for AGE. Inclusion criteria was a documented diagnosis of AGE, age of 18years or older, symptoms of both upper GI symptoms of abdominal pain and/or nauseaand lower GI symptoms of diarrhea. Patients were classified into two main groups,those in whom (1) stool culture was obtained and (2) those in whom stool culture wasnot performed. Clinical features and outcomes were compared between groups. Thediagnostic yield of stool cultures was assessed. All analysis were conducted using theStatistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).ResultsOf 2479 patient charts reviewed, 342 met the above criteria for AGE. 119patients (34.8%) had stool cultures collected and 223 (65.2%) did not. Demographics,clinical features and serologic lab values are shown in Table 1. Of the 119 stoolcultures performed, only 4% (n = 5) yielded growth of pathogenic bacteria (2Pseudomonas spp, 2 Campylobacter spp, 1 Salmonella spp). The group whounderwent stool culture had a higher percentage of patients with fevers (26% vs 13%,p < 0.003) and longer hospital length of stay (3.15 vs 2.28 days, p < 0.001) comparedto the group that did not undergo stool cultures.ConclusionStool cultures are commonly ordered when AGE is suspected. In ourcohort, stool culture had a very low yield of detecting an underlying pathogen. Althoughpatients who had stool cultures obtained were more likely to be febrile and to have alonger length of hospital stay than were those who did not have stool cultures, for thevast majority of patients, stool culture played little to no role in patient management.Further studies are needed to which patients benefit most from undergoing stoolculture.