Helicobacter pylori culture and sensitivities to direct antibiotic treatment of refractory H. pylori infection.
Gastric biopsies
Portagerm pylori transport media (from BioMérieux)
Pre- procedure
• Ensure the patient has a treatment free interval before biopsy: at least 2 weeks off PPI and 4 weeks off antibiotics.
• Please contact the Microbiology Department by phone (x2962) or alternatively by email (rduh.microconsultants@nhs.net) to order in the special transport media – the turnaround time for this is usually 1-2 weeks. Once it has arrived, this can be stored at normal fridge temperature (2 to 8oC) in the endoscopy department fridge.
• Book the endoscopy on a morning list Monday to Thursday (NOT on Fridays). PLEASE NOTE: Sample must reach the laboratory by 15:00 so it can be couriered to the reference laboratory the same day.
Day of the procedure
• Perform multiple gastric biopsies (5-6); at least 2 from the antrum and 2 from the anterior and posterior corpus respectively. Larger volumes increase the yield.
• All microbiology specimens should be taken with sterile forceps before the histology specimens are taken to reduce risk of contamination.
• Place each biopsy specimen in a separate Portagerm pylori vial – do not pool biopsy specimens in the same vial.
• If Portagerm pylori is not available, send the samples it in a universal sterile container with a couple of ml of normal saline (enough that the specimen does not dry out but not so it is fully immersed). Again, use a separate container for each biopsy specimen.
• Please send samples to the Microbiology Laboratory as soon as possible – Sample must reach the laboratory by 15:00 so it can be couriered to the reference laboratory the same day.
• DO NOT refrigerate samples.
Search for: ‘Helicobacter Detection (In Gastric Biopsy)‘ or test code ‘LAB9233‘
Go into the ‘Specimens’ tab -> entering ‘gastric biopsy’ as the source -> selecting the test ‘Helicobacter Detection (In Gastric Biopsy)’. Please unselect histology; if histology is required this needs to be requested on a separate specimen as the sample will go to a different performing laboratory.
Samples are sent to the Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit (GBRU)
Approximately 1-2 weeks
All specimens need to be sent urgently to the GBRU by courier.
Please make sure specimens reach the lab by 15:00 at the latest as they need be sent the same day.
(Sounds Like: h-pylori, h polyri, heliobacter)
Specimen Labelling Procedure
9018
