Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Laboratory Manual

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It is often important to order a number of different studies on the same urine collection, whether it be a random or timed collection, obtained aseptically or not. Sometimes, however, this is not possible.

The most obvious issue is that, although specimens obtained for urine culture may be used for other studies (such as urinalysis and chemistry testing), the converse is not necessarily true. Also, please note that some urine specimens may not be appropriate for all types of urine culture. If both urine culture and other tests are desired on a random urine specimen, the most ideal approach is to use the urine collection and transport system available in the patient care areas. Urine collected aseptically into the blue-top urine container can then be aliquoted in the following manner:

Tests Ordered	Transport Tube Aliquot
Culture (Bacteria, Yeast and other Fungi, AFB)	Gray-top tube (boric acid preservative)
Culture + UA	Gray-top & one red-top (non-corvac tube) tube
Culture + UA + Chemistry	Gray-top & two red-top tubes
Viral Culture	Red-top tube
Antigen Testing	Red-top tube

Note: Urine in the gray top tube is appropriate only for urine culture of bacteria, yeast and fungi. It is NOT appropriate for viral culture or for other analyses.

If urine culture is not desired on a random urine specimen, the urine may be submitted in any non-sterile, leak-proof container, with the lid tightly closed.

Revised/Reviewed 5/23/2006