Detection of Bacteraemia in an inadequate volume of blood

Abstract EN

It was recently discovered that 15 % of adult blood culture specimens at King Abdulaziz University Hospital were inadequate in volume where only 2 ml were collected instead of the required 8 ml using the Signal oxoid medium.

A comparison of 263 matched pairs of standard-volume (8 ml) and low-volume (2 ml) blood cultures from adult patients in the medical ward and intensive care unit at King Abdulaziz University Hospital showed that standard-volume cultures had a higher detection rate for bloodstream infection than did low-volume cultures (89 % compared with 69 % ; difference : 20 %, P = 0.01).

Our data show that the yield of blood cultures in adults increases approximately 3.3 % per millilitre of blood cultured, and that the sensitivity of the standardvolume cultures is statistically higher than the sensitivity of the low-volume cultures (84 % vs.

65 %, P < 0.01).