Abstract
Introduction: The yield (culture positive rate) of sterile body fluids in patients was found to be less than 50%. It has been demonstrated that centrifuging body fluid before culturing increases yield. Using concentrated bacterial samples to enhance culture growth is a more effective alternative. We sought to determine whether sterile fluid culture yield was increased by centrifugation. Methods: Patients whose body fluids were received in sufficient quantity in the microbiology lab were enrolled. Sterile body fluids culture was carried out after centrifugation and by routine conventional inoculation method which was taken as a reference method. Results: 250 samples were included in the study over six months. Of the 250 samples, 15 came positive by the conventional method and 37 came positive by centrifugation technique. Comparisons were made between the turnaround times for the two methods. However, the centrifugation approach immediately produced positive Gram stain results for 19 samples (p = 0.03) while the reference method only produced three positive results. When compared to using the reference technique, the centrifugation method achieved bacterial identification and sensitivity on average more quickly (p 0.00001). Conclusion: The centrifugation technique was successful in producing the desired outcomes and may be used in the future with such precious samples. The centrifugation technique may shorten the turnaround time for culture reports, improving the management of infectious disorders.