Gorschluter et al modified their criteria for neutropenic enterocolitis in 2005 based on a review of the evidence in the medical literature. The authors are from the University of Bonn.
Patient selection: adult with at least moderate neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count < 1 * 10^9/L)
Criteria:
(1) presence of fever - one or both of the following:
(1a) axillary temperature > 38.0°C
(1b) rectal temperature > 38.5°C
(2) abdominal pain (score >= 3 cm on a 10 cm VAS with 10 cm worse imaginable)
(3) bowel wall thickening by imaging study (US or CT) with both of the following:
(3a) thickness > 4.0 mm in transverse scan
(3b) length of bowel involved > 30 mm (3 cm) in longitudinal scan in any segment
These criteria were felt to include "nearly all patients with invasive bowel infection and a poor prognosis."
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