Urine dipstick to test bloods in vomitus

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Had a patient with dengue fever - she ate soya sauce chicken and then vomited.

The nurse panicked after she thought it looked coffee ground and she decided to use a urine dipstick to test the vomitus for blood.

It turned to read positive for blood.

I read that urine dipstick is for urine and not for vomit.

I went to google

"Using a urine dipstick to test vomit for blood is a waste of time. Vomitus invariably contains sufficient traces of haemoglobin to cause a positive reaction" (Crash Course: Surgery, Angeliki Kontoyannis, Helen Sweetland (2008).

But my friend told me it's correct to use a urinedipstick.

Any ideas?

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Specializes in Pedi.

Urine dipstick is for urine, that's why it's called a URINE dipstick. Gastroccult is for testing for occult blood in gastric contents.

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On 7/18/2013 at 5:38 PM, KelRN215 said:

Urine dipstick is for urine, that's why it's called a URINE dipstick. Gastroccult is for testing for occult blood in gastric contents.

Can search for this article online, apparently the dipstick can be used as a quick indicator prior to more extensive testing: 

“Presence of blood in gastric juice: A sensitive marker for gastric cancer screening in a poor resource setting“

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