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Why multiple draw sites for blood cultures?
I apologize if this question has been asked 3 million times. I've been in health care a long time and I never did know-why do they ask for samples from 2 or 3 sites when they do blood cultures?
It's probably astoundingly simple and I'll feel dumb but I want to know.
1 Answer
- 9 years agoFavorite Answer
Multiple samples are collected and different veins are used for two reasons: The first is that when multiple samples are done, you have a better chance of detecting the infection. The second, despite disinfection of the skin where the blood is collected, you could grow a skin contaminant, which will result in a positive blood culture that is not clinically significant (a false positive). With multiple samples, you have a better chance of ruling out a false positive and deciding what is a true bacteremia. These multiple samples pose no additional risk to the patient and help ensure an accurate test.