Culture, Blood Aerobic and Anaerobic

Test Code

CXBAN

Alias/See Also

Epic: LAB2249

Preferred Specimen

Specimen Type: Blood
Collection Container: BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F & BACTEC Lytic/10 Anaerobic /F bottle
Specimen Volume: 8-10 mL

Minimum Volume

3 mL

Instructions

Recommended ordering for Adult patients: 2-3 Aerobic/Anaerobic cultures (separate orders, separate draws) per septic event. Optimal fill is 8-10ml of blood in each bottle. When drawing blood, always follow skin decontamination procedures and always fill the Aerobic bottle first.

Specimen Stability

Bottles must reach microbiology within 12 hours of collection. Alert the laboratory if a delay has occurred.

Reject Criteria (Eg, hemolysis? Lipemia? Thaw/Other?)

Broken, mislabeled, and unlabeled bottles

Methodology
BACTEC blood culture system, automated continuous monitoring using fluorescent detection.
Bottles received after 12 hours will undergo manual incubation.

Setup Schedule

Daily

Report Available

Final Negative Report Available in 5 days.
Positive growth will be called to the patient care provider immediately. Time to final positive report depends on the extent of culture workup.

Limitations

The recovery of microorganisms is proportional to the volume of blood collected. Collection of optimal volumes (8-10ml per bottle) is recommended. As a general guidelines, two sets of cultures should be collected per febrile episode in adult patients, no more than four blood culture sets should be collected in a 24-hour period, and blood cultures should be collected prior to administration of antibiotics. Certain bacteria require extended periods of incubation or additional culture techniques. Please alert the laboratory if unusual or hazardous bacteria (ex. Streptobacillus, Brucella, etc.) are suspected.

Clinical Significance

The growth of bacteria may suggest an infectious cause of symptoms. However, due to possible contamination by skin flora, the healthcare provider should evaluate patient status, organism identification, and the number of positive cultures when determining significance.

Performing Laboratory

Inova Laboratories

2832 Juniper Street

Fairfax, VA 22031

Last Updated: May 11, 2023
Last Review: N. Wolford, May 11, 2023

The CPT Codes provided in this document are based on AMA guidelines and are for informational purposes only. CPT coding is the sole responsibility of the billing party. Please direct any questions regarding coding to the payor being billed. Any Profile/panel component may be ordered separately. Reflex tests are performed at an additional charge.