Serum Zinc Deficiency in Patients with Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis

Objective: To determine the frequency of serum zinc deficiency in patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was done at Department of Medicine, Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad from Sept 2021 to Feb 2022. Patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) of at least 2 weeks' duration, aged 20–60 years, and of either gender were included in the study, and zinc deficiency (below 70 ?g/dL) was further evaluated by collecting blood samples from each participant after obtaining informed consent. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 26. Results: A total of 137 SBP patients were studied with mean age of 55.64 ± 8.83 years and average duration of SBP was 6.85 ± 4.64 weeks. The study population comprised 55.5% males and 44.5% females. Zinc deficiency was observed in 86 (62.7%) patients. Furthermore the statistical significance was observed for zinc deficiency in accordance with residence (p=0.01), socio-economic status (p=0.03), smoking, (p<0.01) and obesity (p<0.01). Conclusion: Zinc deficiency was highly prevalent, affecting 62.7% of patients with SBP, with increased prevalence among those with a history of smoking, diabetes, and obesity. Conclusively the zinc deficiency is not only a common complication in patients with cirrhosis but also plays an important role in the development and progression of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.