Culture, Urine, Routine

Overview:

A urine culture places a urine sample on a growth medium to see whether bacteria multiply, then identifies any that do and counts how many are present. Small numbers can reflect contamination from the skin during collection, so the count matters as much as the presence of bacteria. Where a significant organism grows, the laboratory also tests which antibiotics it is sensitive to, which is what allows treatment to be matched to the specific organism rather than chosen empirically. Results take longer than a dipstick test because the bacteria need time to grow, usually a day or two.

Categories:

Kidney

Biomarkers:

1 biomarker