Urine culture, routine (Calgary/South)
- Test Name:
- Urine culture, routine (Calgary/South)
- Organism(s)/Disease(s):
-
Urinary tract infection (UTI)
- Preferred Body Source(s):
-
Midstream urine.
- Body Source(s):
-
Catheter - indwelling
Catheter, in/out
Urine, Pedibag
-
Clinical Prerequisite(s):
-
Provision of relevant, clinical information is important to ensure a clinically relevant result
Inappropriate urine culture testing and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria can lead to harm. For guidance and resources refer to:
Appropriateness & Stewardship in asymptomatic Bacteriuria (ASAB) Initiative (AHS)
- Collection Device/Tube Type:
-
60 mL sterile, plastic container
BD Vacutainer (grey-top) preservation tube
- Specimen Requirement(s):
-
Preferred: Collect the specimen 2-4 hours after the last void to increase chances of detecting the pathogen
- The collection procedure should minimize contamination with perineal and distal urethral flora. Refer to the Female and Male collection instruction links below
- Healthcare Providers and Laboratory Staff, refer to: Urine Vacutainer Tube for Culture & Sensitivity
- Collection Instructions:
-
- For family physician and outpatient clinics:
Send patients to any outpatient laboratory or an APL Patient Service Centre for optimal specimen collection - For hospital, continuing care facilities, and home collections by healthcare workers:
- Transfer urine to a grey-top vacutainer tube immediately after collection
- Submit the grey-top tube only
- For home collections by patient/caregiver:
- Collect specimen using the appropriate collection instructions.
- Transfer urine to a sterile, plastic container
- Deliver the specimen, within 2 hours, to any outpatient laboratory or APL Patient Service Centre location
- Refrigerate specimen if delivery to the lab will be delayed
Collection Instructions
- Female Midstream Urine Collection Instructions
- Male Midstream Urine Collection Instruction
- Catheter Collection for Urine Collection
- Urine Sample Collection Infants - Transfer U-Bag urine collections into a sterile container immediately after collection
- For family physician and outpatient clinics:
- Handling/Storage Comments:
-
- BD Vacutainer Urine C&S Transport Tube collection
- Store the inoculated tubes at room temperature until sent to the testing laboratory
- Transport to the APL Calgary - Diagnostic & Scientific Centre (DSC) Microbiology department within 48 hours of collection
- Urine received in sterile containers:
- refrigerate immediately
- transport to DSC Microbiology ASAP (within 24 hours of collection)
- Inoculated culture plates:
- store at room temperature
- transport to the DSC Microbiology ASAP
- BD Vacutainer Urine C&S Transport Tube collection
- Rejection Criteria:
-
- Mislabeled or unlabeled specimen/requisition
- More than 1 specimen/collection method/day
- Specimens in sterile containers received >24 hours after collection.
- Pooled 24-hour urine collection
- Leaking container
- Underfilled or overfilled grey-top preservative tubes
- Expired preservative tubes
- Urinalysis tubes
- Turnaround Times
- See Microbiology Information»
- Last Reviewed:
- 07 May 2024
