Less haste, more speed: Does delayed blood culture transport time lead to adverse incubation times or yield?

How Does the Time from Intraoperative Culture Harvest to Incubation Impact Culture Positivity in Orthopaedic Surgeries? A Case–Control Study

“…This study found that after 100 min, the probability of culture positivity decreases by 6% for every 10-min delay. This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation.…”

“…This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation. Similarly, Venturelli et al [ 22 ] demonstrated a 0.3% reduction in positivity rate for each hour of delay in blood culture loading in adult septic patients.…”

“…The primary finding of this study is that implementation of an accelerated protocol, reducing the time from operation to incubation from a median of 245 min to 89 min, was associated with a higher rate of culture positivity in orthopaedic infections. This result aligns with the pathophysiological understanding that prompt specimen processing preserves microbial viability and reduces the risk of false-negative cultures due to bacterial death or overgrowth of contaminants [4,14,15]. The robust design of the present study, with strict matching and lack of contaminated samples, strengthens the evidence that accelerated protocols are beneficial.…”

How Does the Time from Intraoperative Culture Harvest to Incubation Impact Culture Positivity in Orthopaedic Surgeries? A Case–Control Study

“…This study found that after 100 min, the probability of culture positivity decreases by 6% for every 10-min delay. This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation.…”

“…This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation. Similarly, Venturelli et al [ 22 ] demonstrated a 0.3% reduction in positivity rate for each hour of delay in blood culture loading in adult septic patients.…”

“…The primary finding of this study is that implementation of an accelerated protocol, reducing the time from operation to incubation from a median of 245 min to 89 min, was associated with a higher rate of culture positivity in orthopaedic infections. This result aligns with the pathophysiological understanding that prompt specimen processing preserves microbial viability and reduces the risk of false-negative cultures due to bacterial death or overgrowth of contaminants [4,14,15]. The robust design of the present study, with strict matching and lack of contaminated samples, strengthens the evidence that accelerated protocols are beneficial.…”

Streptococcal endocarditis: a meta-analysis of species dependant risk

“…Further details on the blood culture approach are available elsewhere. 1 Identification of streptococci was made primarily using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation–Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF, Bruker) and confirmed with subsequent VITEK-2 (bioMérieux) during antimicrobial susceptibility testing.…”

Diagnostic stewardship in sepsis: minding the gap from the microbiology lab to ward

“…This step is typically carried out in continuously monitored automated systems located in the microbiology laboratory, which means that transportation to the laboratory is required before the incubation can begin. Ideally, incubation should start immediately upon arrival at the laboratory, as several studies have shown that delays in placing blood culture bottles into incubators can significantly reduce positivity rates [ 3 , 28 – 30 ]. Nevertheless, in some hospitals, the absence of technical staff during evening and night shifts leads to unavoidable delays.…”

How Does the Time from Intraoperative Culture Harvest to Incubation Impact Culture Positivity in Orthopaedic Surgeries? A Case–Control Study

“…This study found that after 100 min, the probability of culture positivity decreases by 6% for every 10-min delay. This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation.…”

“…This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation. Similarly, Venturelli et al [ 22 ] demonstrated a 0.3% reduction in positivity rate for each hour of delay in blood culture loading in adult septic patients.…”

“…The primary finding of this study is that implementation of an accelerated protocol, reducing the time from operation to incubation from a median of 245 min to 89 min, was associated with a higher rate of culture positivity in orthopaedic infections. This result aligns with the pathophysiological understanding that prompt specimen processing preserves microbial viability and reduces the risk of false-negative cultures due to bacterial death or overgrowth of contaminants [4,14,15]. The robust design of the present study, with strict matching and lack of contaminated samples, strengthens the evidence that accelerated protocols are beneficial.…”

Streptococcal endocarditis: a meta-analysis of species dependant risk

“…Further details on the blood culture approach are available elsewhere. 1 Identification of streptococci was made primarily using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation–Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF, Bruker) and confirmed with subsequent VITEK-2 (bioMérieux) during antimicrobial susceptibility testing.…”

Diagnostic stewardship in sepsis: minding the gap from the microbiology lab to ward

“…This step is typically carried out in continuously monitored automated systems located in the microbiology laboratory, which means that transportation to the laboratory is required before the incubation can begin. Ideally, incubation should start immediately upon arrival at the laboratory, as several studies have shown that delays in placing blood culture bottles into incubators can significantly reduce positivity rates [ 3 , 28 – 30 ]. Nevertheless, in some hospitals, the absence of technical staff during evening and night shifts leads to unavoidable delays.…”

How Does the Time from Intraoperative Culture Harvest to Incubation Impact Culture Positivity in Orthopaedic Surgeries? A Case–Control Study

“…This study found that after 100 min, the probability of culture positivity decreases by 6% for every 10-min delay. This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation.…”

“…This aligns with previous studies showing reduced culture yields with delays [ 14 , 22 ]. Deas et al [ 14 ] observed a 0.997-fold decrease for every hour between blood collection and incubation. Similarly, Venturelli et al [ 22 ] demonstrated a 0.3% reduction in positivity rate for each hour of delay in blood culture loading in adult septic patients.…”

“…The primary finding of this study is that implementation of an accelerated protocol, reducing the time from operation to incubation from a median of 245 min to 89 min, was associated with a higher rate of culture positivity in orthopaedic infections. This result aligns with the pathophysiological understanding that prompt specimen processing preserves microbial viability and reduces the risk of false-negative cultures due to bacterial death or overgrowth of contaminants [4,14,15]. The robust design of the present study, with strict matching and lack of contaminated samples, strengthens the evidence that accelerated protocols are beneficial.…”

Streptococcal endocarditis: a meta-analysis of species dependant risk

“…Further details on the blood culture approach are available elsewhere. 1 Identification of streptococci was made primarily using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation–Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF, Bruker) and confirmed with subsequent VITEK-2 (bioMérieux) during antimicrobial susceptibility testing.…”

Diagnostic stewardship in sepsis: minding the gap from the microbiology lab to ward

“…This step is typically carried out in continuously monitored automated systems located in the microbiology laboratory, which means that transportation to the laboratory is required before the incubation can begin. Ideally, incubation should start immediately upon arrival at the laboratory, as several studies have shown that delays in placing blood culture bottles into incubators can significantly reduce positivity rates [ 3 , 28 – 30 ]. Nevertheless, in some hospitals, the absence of technical staff during evening and night shifts leads to unavoidable delays.…”