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HelpAbscess Culture*
Specimen Requirements
- Specimen Type: Abscess, Aspirate, Bartholin, Bite, Cath Site, Decub, Excision Site, Exit Site, Fistula, Mass, Perirectal, Pilonidal Cyst, Rectal Abscess, Sinus, Tonsil.
- Specimen Volume: Entire collection
- Specimen Stability: 48 hours
- Collection Instructions: See additional information section.
- Specimen Transport Temperature: Ambient
PREFERRED:
Specimen Type: Closed abscess
Collection Container/Tube: Anaerobic transport jar, vial or sterile container from a sterile needle and syringe or catheter
ACCEPTABLE:
Specimen Type: Open abscess, swab, tissue or fluid
Collection Container/Tube: Sterile container or culture transport swab
Collection Instructions:
- For most open lesions and abscesses, remove superficial flora by decontaminating skin before collecting a specimen from advancing margin or base.
- If submitting a specimen from a source contaminated with usual flora, send at refrigerated temperature, however, refrigerated specimens are not suitable for isolation of Neisseria species.
Specimen Transport Temperature
Ambient/Refrigerated NO/Frozen NO
Reference Values
Normal Reference Values: No growth or usual flora. Identification of probable pathogens.
Critical Values:
Day(s) Performed
Daily
Analytical Time:
3 days
Performing Laboratory
Rutland Regional Medical Center Laboratory
Methodology
Manual
Test Classification and CPT Coding
CPT: 87070-Culture, 87205-Gram stain
LOINC: 595-9
Collection Instructions
- Aspirate the abscess contents with a syringe.
- Remove needle and cap the syringe or place the contents into an anaerobic jar, anaerobic vial or sterile container.
- Microbiology Specimen Collection Guidelines