Stool Culture: What Affects The Test
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What Affects the Test
Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:
- Recent use of antibiotics, medicine (such as bismuth) to control diarrhea, enemas, or laxatives.
- Recent X-ray tests using a contrast material containing barium.
- A stool sample that is mixed with urine or blood.
- Not collecting a large enough sample.
- Not getting the stool sample to the lab for testing quickly enough.
| Last updated: | April 11, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Monica Rhodes |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Peter J. Kahrilas, MD - Gastroenterology |
| Editors: | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Tracy Landauer |
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