- Test Name:
- Urine culture, in/out catheter, child <5 yrs (Edmonton/Central/North)
- Organism(s)/Disease(s):
-
Urinary tract infection (UTI)
- Body Source(s):
-
Catheter - child <5 years (in/out)
-
Clinical Prerequisite(s):
-
Provision of relevant clinical information is important to ensure a clinically relevant result
- For patient <5 years
- State specimen source - Specify In/Out catheter urine
- State current/proposed antibiotic therapy and start date
- Provide relevant clinical history. State symptoms, signs, and risk factors for UTI
- Provide any antimicrobial allergies
The diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is CLINICAL, based on symptoms and signs, NOT laboratory testing
Urine should be sent for culture only AFTER there is a strong clinical suspicion of UTI, to find the causative bacterium and its antibiotic susceptibilities
The role of urine culture is to guide the selection of antibiotic therapy
Urine MUST be collected BEFORE starting antibiotics
- Collection Device/Tube Type:
-
BD Vacutainer (blue-top) urine culture collection cup
BD Vacutainer (grey-top) preservation tube
Sterile 60 mL plastic container (orange-top).
- Collection Instructions:
-
1. For community Pediatricians collecting specimen from patient <5 year age:
- Collect specimen using appropriate instructions
- Place in sterile orange-top container
- Refrigerate specimen if not being delivered directly to the lab after collection
- Specimen should be delivered to any outpatient laboratory or an APL Patient Service Center within 2 hours2. For hospital, continuing care facilities, and home collection by healthcare workers:
1.
2.
Clean patient’s urethral opening (and vaginal vestibule in females) with soap and water
3.
Wash your hands well with soap and water. Dry well. Wear sterile gloves
4.
Use aseptic technique, pass a catheter into the bladder
5.
Discard the initial 15-30 mL of urine
6.
Collect next 30 mL into BD Vacutainer cup (blue-top). Close lid
7.
Transfer urine into grey-top tube immediately
8.
Submit grey-top tube only. Dispose of blue transfer device according to your facility’s policy
- Handling/Storage Comments:
-
Urine submitted in GREY-TOP tubes can be stored and transported at room temperature.
Urines submitted in ORANGE-TOP sterile containers MUST be refrigerated if they cannot be deliver to the laboratory within 20 minutes
Delivery to the laboratory should be as soon as possible (or within 2 hours) to expedite the result and the initiation of therapy. The laboratory will transfer the specimen into preservative tubes to maintain its quality
- Rejection Criteria:
-
- Mislabelled or unlabelled specimen/requisition
- More than 1 specimen/collection method/day
- Pooled 24-hour urine collection
- Leaking container
- Underfilled or overfilled grey-top preservative tubes
- Expired preservative tubes
- Urinalysis tubes
- Turnaround Times
- See Microbiology Information»
- Comments:
-
Contact Microbiologist on Call for any concerns regarding culture results
Phone: 780-451-3702
Toll free: 1-800-661-9876 - Last Reviewed:
- 06 May 2023
