How to collect urine for culture and sensitivity test?

Collection of urine for culture and sensitivity test should be done with utmost care as the way of collecting the urine can greatly affect the out come of the test thereby the management of the patient. Therefore “how to collect urine for culture and sensitivity test?” is one of the frequently asking questions by the care givers specially mothers. So it is the duty of the physician to educate the care givers on “how to collect urine for culture and sensitivity test?”

The collection method depends on several factors such as age of the patient, condition of the patient (how severely ill) and the type of urine sample. And this is a special topic in the pediatric practice as well.

It is very difficult to collects urine sample from infants, young children and debilitated patients. Type of urine sample could be mid stream catch, catheter sample or supra pubic aspiration.

First you have to obtain a container from the laboratory. There are special containers for urine culture samples and some time they may contain preservatives as well. Hands of the collector should be washed with water and soap. Then the genitalia (penis and vagina) should be cleaned. In men fore skin should be retracted and clean the area with water and soap. In women labia majora should be made apart and clean the area with water and soap. Mothers of infants and young children should take care of this step. Using of antiseptic could be problem in some occasions as it may interfere with the viability of organisms. Therefore you should take advice from the relevant physician regarding antiseptic.

Then patients should void urine out. First few drops of urine are not collected and let them go out. Then open the lid of the container and collect sufficient amount of urine. Do not keep the container open for long period and never wash the container as well. Then close the container with the lid and wipe off the urine present outside the container with a clean paper. Hand over the urine sample to the laboratory as soon as possible.

Collection of catheter sample and supra pubic aspiration is done by health care personals. So you do not need to worry about that.