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Ear Swab Culture
Synonyms
NEar Culture, Upper Respiratory Culture one, Ear Swab Culture
Purpose
An ear swab helps to identify bacterial or fungal pathogens that cause middle and outer ear infections. These infections often cause inflammation, pain, and discharge from the ear.
If the ear infection is suspected to be caused by a respiratory tract infection, such as acute otitis, the doctor can perform a sputum culture to identify the pathogen responsible.
In addition, some throat infections can lead to ear infections, especially in children. Performing a throat swab alongside the ear swab can provide a comprehensive diagnosis, allowing the doctor to provide the right treatment.
Patient Preparation
No special preparation is required.
Samples
Collect One Ear swab in a bacterial culture transport swab. Use a sterile cotton swab to collect the sample inside the outer ear canal and store it at room temperature.
Reference Range
Negative/Normal
Results Turnaround
2 – 4 days after receipt of samples.
Diseases / Diagnostic Indicators
An ear swab helps diagnose ear infections, particularly otitis externa andotitis.
If your eardrum ruptures, the infection might spread from the middle to the external ear canal and lead to chronic suppurative otitis media. This condition causes persistent ear discharge, which may lead to hearing loss if left untreated. As such, identifying the pathogens responsible helps in applying an effective treatment for the infection.
You can refer to this study for further reading on bacterial etiologies of ear infections.