Tissue collected during surgery are the best specimens for culture. Swab specimens are suboptimal but will be accepted if a fresh tissue specimen is not available. Specimens should be collected prior to initial therapy and only from wounds that are clinically infected or deteriorating or fail to heal over a long period.
Fresh Tissue 1. Obtain fresh tissue (5-10mm3 in size) and place specimen in a screw-capped, sterile container. A small amount of sterile saline may be added to the specimen. 2. Label container with patient’s name (first and last), date and actual time of collection, and type of specimen. 3. Maintain sterility and forward promptly. Note: Specimen source is required on request form for processing.
Tissue in ESwab 1. Obtain tissue (5-10mm3 in size) and place specimen in Eswab. 2. Label container with patient’s name (first and last), date and actual time of collection, and type of specimen. 3. Maintain sterility and forward promptly. Note: Specimen source is required on request form for processing.
Specimen Volume
Transport Instructions
Maintain sterility, and forward promptly.
Specimen Stability
Up to 48 hours
Methodology
Microbiology Culture, Includes Gram stain, and anaerobes.
