Molecular wound culture in Lubbock, Texas

Molecular wound culture is a test done to detect and identify the bacteria that is causing the infection in a wound. It also helps to guide on how to treat the infection.

When you are experiencing signs and symptoms of wound infection such as reddish coloration, swollen skin, pus or fluids drainage, you should consider having a wound culture.

In cases of severe wounds, wounds that are slow to heal or not healing, wound culture helps to find out the bacteria causing the infection and preventing the wound from healing.

Wound culture helps to ascertain if a wound has been infected with bacteria’s, what type of bacteria’s infected the wound and the type of antibiotic that would be the best for the treatment of the infection and to heal the wound.

What is being tested and how it is done

A wound culture is performed by collecting fluid samples, molecular tissue or cells from the wound and placing it on or in the appropriate nutrient media.

A sterile swab can be used to collect the fluid samples from the wound. For a wound that is big or deep, the fluid could be collected using a syringe.

The nutrient media encourages the bacteria that may be present to grow so as to give room for further testing and identification.

Typically, it is just a single kind of pathogenic bacteria that is causing the infection in a wound. However, there might be several typical skin bacteria present in the culture. Isolating the different types of bacteria and recognizing the pathogenic bacteria requires one or more days to carry out.

A Gram stain is normally performed to help decide the sort of microscopic organisms present and give a quick outcome to the physician.

For a significant number of the pathogens identified in wound cultures, testing is done to figure out which antibiotics will be viable in hindering the development of the bacteria. The Gram stain of the wound, the culture, and testing all add to inform and make the physician know which pathogens are present in the wound and what antibiotic treatment is going to help prevent the growth of the pathogens.


How wound culture is used

If a culture uncovers that a wound is contaminated, susceptibility testing is done to figure out which antibiotic will restrain the development of the bacteria causing the infection. This is regularly performed naturally as a major aspect of the first request on the wound specimen with the goal that antimicrobial susceptibility results can direct suitable treatment as quickly as possible.

A wound culture may likewise be requested for a person who has experienced treatment for a wound disease to decide if the treatment was successful. It might likewise be requested at interims for an individual who has a perpetual disease to help manage further treatment.

When is wound culture required or done?

Wound culture may be required to ascertain the bacteria responsible for a wound infection. It is performed to guide the physician for the best effective treatment

When your physician observes that your wound is infected, a wound culture is required. The signs of an infected wound include;

  • Tenderness at the wound area
  • Heat, redness or swelling at the wound area
  • Fever
  • A wound that is slow to heal or does not show signs of healing
  • Drainage of fluid from the wound
  • Pus on the wound

Meaning of the test result

After the test is done, the lab reports typically name the bacteria that was found during the test. If the test comes out negative, it could be reported as “No growth seen” for a specific number of days. In the event that pathogenic bacteria are identified in the test, then the source or cause of the infection will most likely be known.

An infection is normally caused by a single type of bacteria. A wound may have two or more pathogens which are contributing to the infection. If organisms are available, they may not be distinguished as individual bacterial species which may be reported as “mixed bacteria flora”.

This could indicate a mix of normal flora found on the skin and potential pathogens cultured from the wound that was not cleaned appropriately before the specimen was taken or from the wound.

In the event that there is only normal flora present, at that point the infection might be because of bacteria ordinarily found on the skin, or the pathogen may have been missed in the specimen because of low numbers present, or the infection might be because of another reason.

In cases of burn wounds, the number and types of bacteria that grow are proportional to the severity of the infection.

The results of wound cultures may not ascertain exactly the cause of an infection when the person has been previously treated with antibiotics or in certain cases of chronic infections.

In cases whereby an infection has spread from the wound into the blood and other organs, then the same bacteria detected in the wound infection may also be found in the person’s blood.

South-West Regional Wound Care Center – Arterial ulcer Treatment Lubbock, Texas

South West Regional Wound Care Center is a medical center in Lubbock, Texas that specializes in wound care, treatment and healing. We provide the best wound care and treatment you can find in Lubbock and around Texas.

We are aware that to effectively treat and heal a wound, you need to know the root cause, which is the bacteria causing the infection.

This is why we always carry out wound culture on our patients to ascertain exactly the bacteria causing the infection and the best treatment for the wound.

Wound culture helps us treat wound thoroughly and prevent future reoccurrence.

We have a team of medical specialist that provide professional medical services and make sure that each patient is specially and thoroughly treated.

We are a leading wound care medical center that specializes in the treatment of severe wounds and wounds that are slow to heal. We are dedicated to each of our patients and we provide the best wound treatment services.

 

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