Turnaround Time Physician will be notified of all positive smears and cultures within the next workday. Negative smears and cultures are reported after 8 weeks.
Special Instructions Twenty-four hour specimens are not acceptable because of bacterial overgrowth. Deliver specimen promptly to the laboratory. The following information must be provided to the laboratory for the proper processing of specimens: specific site of specimen, current antibiotic therapy, age and sex of patient, collection time and date, physician's name and pager number, and clinical diagnosis.
Specimen First morning sputum or induced sputum, fasting gastric aspirate, bronchial aspirate, tracheal aspirate, transtracheal aspirate, laryngeal swab, bronchial washings
Collection The recommended screening is three first morning specimens submitted on 3 successive days. The patient should be instructed to brush his/her teeth and/or rinse mouth well with water before attempting to collect the specimen to reduce the possibility of contaminating the specimen with food particles, oropharyngeal secretions, etc. The patient must expectorate (deep cough, not saliva) into a wide-mouth, screw-capped, sterile container.
Storage Instructions The specimen should be refrigerated if it cannot be promptly processed.
Causes for Rejection Leaking specimen. If an unacceptable specimen is received, the nursing station will be called and another specimen requested.
