Urine Test - Samples, Collection Methods, Transport
Urine sample for Urine Test
The collection of urine is done to diagnose infection via urine tests in the urinary system. Clinical syndromes such as UTIs, urethritis, ureteritis, asymptomatic bacteriuria, cystitis, urethral syndrome, pyelonephritis, etc.
Collection methods for Urine Test
Clean-catch midstream urine
The clean-catch midstream urine specimen collection must be performed carefully for optimal results, especially in females. Guidelines for proper specimen collection must be provided to the patients by a suitable instructional medium.
The patient must be instructed to clean the periurethral area well with a mild detergent to avoid contamination for the urine test. The patient must rinse well because the detergent may be bacteriostatic. Once cleaning is completed, the patient should retract the labial folds of the glans penis, begin to void, and then collect a midstream urine sample.
Straight catheterized urine
Straight catheterized urine for urine tests is slightly more invasive. Urinary catheterization provides a method for the collection of uncontaminated urine from the bladder. Risk does exist performing this procedure. There are chances that urethral organisms will be introduced into the bladder with the catheter.
Suprapubic bladder aspiration
With suprapubic bladder aspiration, urine is withdrawn directly into a syringe through a percutaneously inserted needle, thereby ensuring a contamination-free specimen. During collection, the bladder must be full.
The full bladder is punctured using a needle and syringe and sampled following proper skin preparation (antisepsis). If good aseptic techniques are used, this procedure can be followed with proper skin preparation (antiseptic). If good aseptic techniques are used, this procedure can be followed with little risk in premature infants, infants, small children, pregnant women, and other adults with full bladder.
Indwelling catheters
Prolonged use of indwelling catheters develops bacteriuria, which predisposes them to more severe infections.
Specimen collection from patients with indwelling catheters requires a scrupulous aseptic technique. Healthcare workers manipulating a urinary catheter in any way should wear gloves. Culture should be obtained when patients are ill.
The catheter part or wall of the tubing should be clamped off above the port to allow the collection of freshly voided urine. The catheter port or wall of tubing should be cleaned vigorously with 70% ethanol. The urine for urine test should aspire via needle and syringe.
A closed drainage system must be maintained so as to not introduce organisms into the bladder. Specimens collected from the urinary bags are inappropriate because microorganisms can multiply there obscuring the true relative number.
Transport of Urine Test
As urine is an excellent supportive medium for the growth of most bacteria, it must be refrigerated or preserved but can be maintained The bacterial count can be made constant by refrigerating at 4°C and can be kept for 24 hours.
Urine transport tubes containing boric acid, glycerol, and sodium formate have been shown to preserve bacteria without refrigeration for as long as 24 hours when greater than 105 CFU/ml were present in an initial urine specimen.
The system may inhibit the growth of certain organisms, and it must be used with a minimum of 3ml of urine. Both boric acid products preserve bacterial viability in urine for 24 hours in absence of antibiotics.
If colony counts less than 105 CFU/ml are expected, plating is recommended within 2 hours. The kits provide a convenient method for preserving and transporting urine from remote areas where refrigeration is not practical.