A Guide To Specimen Management in Clinical Microbiology

Preface
How To Use This Book

SECTION I

COMMUNICATING LABORATORY NEEDS

• Basic Issues
• Selecting a Representative Specimen
• Requisitions
• Specimen Packaging and Transport
• Color-Coded Vacuum Tubes
• Catheters Often Used in Medical Procedures
• Specimen Priority
• Specimen Rejection Criteria
• Rejection Statements of Addenda to Laboratory Reports
• Specialty Testing
• Environmental Samples
• Hand Wash Specimens
• Laboratory Reports

SECTION II

SPECIMEN MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND RATIONALE

• Collection Times
• Collection Procedures
• Specimen Transport
• Specimen Processing: General
• Specimen Processing: Molecular
• Lower Respiratory Tract Specimens
• Urine Specimens
• Wound Specimens
• Spinal Fluid Specimens
• Throat and Nasopharyngeal Specimens
• Vaginal and Endometrial Specimens
• Miscellaneous Specimens

SECTION III

SPECIMEN COLLECTION AND PROCESSING

• Body Fluid Specimens
• Abdominal-Peritoneal Fluid (Paracentesis, Ascites)
• Blood Specimens
• Cerebrospinal Fluid
• Pleural-Thoracentesis Fluid
• Gastrointestinal Specimens
• Duodenal Contents
• Gastric Contents
• Pinworm Eggs Collected by Adhesive Tape Preparation
• Rectal and Anal Swab Specimens
• Sigmoidoscopy Specimens for Amebiasis
• Stool or Feces for Culture or Parasitology Studies
• Stool Specimen Collection Directions
• Genital Specimens
• General Information
• Cervical or Endocervical Specimens
• Genital Smears for Herpes
• Urethral and Penile Specimens
• Respiratory Specimens
• General Information
• Bronchoscopy-Bronchial Washing
• Nasal Specimens
• Nasopharyngeal Specimens
• Sputum
• Tracheal Aspirate
• Transtracheal Aspirate
• Throat Specimens
• Urine Specimens
• General Information
• Urine from Catheters
• Clean-Catch Urine
• Cytoscopic Specimens: Bilateral Urethral Catheterization
• Suprapubic Aspirate for Urine Cultures
• Urine Specimens: Bladder Washout
• Urine Specimens: Ileal Conduit
• Viruses, Chlamydiae, Rickettsiae, and Fungi
• Chlamydia Culture
• Specimens for Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma spp.
• Fungal Specimens
• Rickettsial Specimens
• Viral Specimens
• Wound Specimens
• General Information
• Ear (Otitis Media) Specimens
• Eye Specimens
• Skin and Contiguous Tissue Specimens

SECTION IV

• SPECIMEN MANAGEMENT SUMMARY TABLES
• Bacteriology and Mycology Specimen Collection Guidelines
• Specimen Management for Infrequently Encountered Organisms
• Specimen Guide for Virus Isolation
• Virology Specimen Collection Guidelines
• Parasitology: Anatomic Sites Containing Diagnostic Stages
• Parasitology Specimen Collection Guidelines

References
Index

The face of infectious diseases has changed since the second edition of A Guide to Specimen Management in Clinical Microbiology was published in 1999. Despite improved surveillance and vaccinations, tens of millions of people visit physicians annually for a possible microbial or parasitic infection. Identifying the infectious agent in a patient remains a top priority, and proper identification begins with careful collection, appropriate packaging and transport, and responsible reporting of patient specimens.

For these reasons, A Guide to Specimen Management in Clinical Microbiology is as essential as ever. The book is divided into four sections and features tips and words of wisdom that come directly from experts in the field.

Communicating laboratory needs explains to all members of the healthcare team what role the clinical microbiology laboratory plays in patient care. It also emphasizes that microbiology specimens contain living organisms that require proper handling to remain viable.

Specimen management policies and rationale provides a framework for creating a specimen management policy and a specimen collection and handling manual that, together, support good medicine and good laboratory practice.

Specimen collection and processing contains detailed protocols for selecting, collecting, storing, and transporting adult and pediatric specimens to the clinical microbiology laboratory. This section can serve as a model for preparation of the specimen management manual.

Specimen management summary tables are handy reference guides that provide answers to most questions regarding the laboratory needs for a wide variety of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic organisms found in patient specimens.

Because patient care is a team effort, all members of the health care teamaEURO"physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, specimen collectors, and laboratoriansaEURO"will benefit greatly from reading this book.