Culture And Sensitivity Aerobic Bone Chips

This test is done to diagnose any bacterial or fungal infections on the surface of the bone or other surrounding tissues. The bone chips are small fragments or pieces of bone which are collected from the site of infections to analyze the type of bacteria present in it and to plan appropriate treatment. This type of test can be often recommended to patients with deep wounds like diabetic ulcers, fractures, malignancies etc.

What are Aerobic bacteria?

Bacteria are the single-celled microorganisms that can live within the soil, in the ocean and also inside the human gut. They have a number of shapes such as spirals, rods, and spheres etc. Some bacteria can cause illness to the human body and some other plays a major role in the overall functioning of our ecosystem.

Aerobic bacteria are the bacteria which can survive in the presence of oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, aerobic bacteria cannot survive and can die. Some of the aerobic bacteria are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nocardia, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis etc.

What is culture and sensitivity testing?

In laboratories, the bacteria are often grown with the help of growth media (nutrient preparation which acts as a source of food for the bacteria). The grown bacteria is observed under a microscope to identify the type of bacteria. The process is called as bacterial culturing. The bacterial culturing is often used in the field of medicine to identify the species of bacteria causing the infection and to know what kind of medicines are effective in killing the bacteria and planning the treatment accordingly.

What are Bone chips?

Bone chips are small pieces of bone or cartilage that have come loose and float around the knee, foot, ankle, elbow etc. This can occur from an injury or lack of blood supply to these regions. Even a fracture also can cause a broken bone or bone chips. Infections are also one major cause for this condition. These bone or cartilage infections can be due to bacterial or fungal infection. This test helps to determine whether the infection is due to bacteria or not.

Why this test is performed?

This test is performed as part of routine health screening or to determine the presence of bacterial growth in bone chips. Your doctor may ask to perform this test if you experience any signs and symptoms of bone or cartilage bacterial infections such as fever, pain, heat, warmth, redness, swelling over the areas of infection, fatigue, etc. This test is also performed to monitor and evaluate the treatment effectiveness in individuals receiving treatment for bone or cartilage for bacterial infections. However, your doctor may ask to perform a susceptibility testing on the bacteria isolated from this culture test to determine the antibiotic treatment.

The test results may be vary depending on gender, age, health conditions, and other factors.

If the culture test is positive it may indicate the growth of bacterial organisms such as streptococcus, pneumococcus, e.coli, MRSA, or any other bacterial organisms in the bone chips. It may indicate the presence of bone or cartilage bacterial infections. However, a few more additional tests may also be performed depending on the suspected cause and typical results, along with the physical symptoms to diagnose the exact infection.

If the culture test is negative it means no growth of aerobic bacterial organisms is detected from the bone chips.

Based on the test results, your doctor may advise you appropriate medical treatments or further diagnostic tests.