Synonyms: Culture, bacterial, blood

CPT 4 Code: 87040

Test Order Mnemonic: C BLDN

Test Includes: Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and yeast; antimicrobial testing when appropriate

Lab: Bacteriology

Request Form: Microbiology

Patient Preparation: Clean skin with Medi-Flex kit provided with the blood culture bottles.

Collection: Use a syringe or butterfly to collect 13-17 ml of blood. Pediatric patients, collect 1-3mL of blood. Inject blood into the alcohol-cleaned aerobic and anaerobic blood culture vials. Inject 8 ml into the aerobic bottle; inject 5 ml into the anaerobic bottle. If a pediatric bottle is used, inject it with 1-3 ml of blood (min 0.5ml).

Storage Instructions: Store at room temperature or incubate at 35°C until transport.

Causes for Rejection: Refrigerated vials, submission of vials other than Bactec vials

Availability: Samples are accepted 24 hours per day at the Microbiology Processing Laboratory, Room 5.137 McCullough.

Turnaround Time: Preliminary report after 1 day, final report after 7 days

Special Instructions: Collect specimens using aseptic technique since contamination may lead to false positive results. Collect two sets of cultures per febrile episode. Positive culture results are considered a critical value and notification will be performed upon recognition of the positive result. For pediatric patients, there is a Pediatric Bactec bottle available. Inoculate this bottle with 1-3 ml of blood. DO NOT COVER THE BAR CODE LABEL.

Specimen: Blood, venous or line (indicate line site)

Volume: Aerobic bottle 8 ml, Anaerobic bottle 5 ml, Pediatric 1-3ml

Minimum Volume: Pediatric, 0.5 ml

Container: Bactec Bottles: Aerobic, blue; Anaerobic: yellow; Pediatric: pink

Critical Values: Positive

Test Method:  Bactec 9240

Revised 07/25/2008 by T. Friloux