How to Handle CT-Guided Abscess Drainages in Microbiological Analyses? Sterile Vials vs. Blood Culture Bottles for Transport and Processing

The aim of this investigation was to compare microbiological analyses of 100 computed tomography-guided drainages from infectious foci (thoracic, abdominal, musculoskeletal), transported and analyzed by two widely established techniques, that are (i) sterile vials or (ii) inoculated blood culture bottles. The mean number of detected microorganisms from blood culture (aerobic/anaerobic) or conventional method (sterile vial, solid and broth media) per specimen were comparable with 1.29 and 1.41, respectively (p = 1.0). The conventional method showed a trend towards shorter time-to-result (median 28.62 h) in comparison to blood culture incubation (median 43.55 h) (p = 0.0722). Of note, detection of anaerobes (13% vs. 36%) and the number of detected microorganisms in polymicrobial infections (2.76 vs. 3.26) differed significantly with an advantage towards conventional techniques (p = 0.0015; p = 0.035), especially in abdominal aspirations. Despite substantially overlapping results from both techniques, the conventional approach includes some benefits which justify its role as standard approach.