At the penis, the urethra is the passage of urine, with semen draining out. When urethritis will cause sharp pain, discomfort, affect daily activities of the patient. To diagnose the condition, doctors often prescribe a patient need to perform a Pap test to find the cause and determine the extent of the disease.
So how is this test done, how are the results read? Please find out the following information to understand this issue!
What Is A Urethral Swab Direct Exam?
The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. Besides, for men, the penis urethra is also the way of semen out of the body. Thus, urethritis is inflammation of the urethra.
The common causes of urethritis are fungi, some viruses, gonorrhea bacteria (N.gonorrhoeae), Mycoplasma, Chlamydia …
When a patient is suspected of having urethritis, a doctor usually prescribes that a patient should perform a Pap test to find out the cause of the disease.
This test is done by taking a sample of the patient’s urethral fluid and spreading it on a slide for staining.
At this time, the bacterial pattern and cells present in the urethral fluid after staining can be easily seen under a microscope. Based on the color and morphology of the bacteria and cells, it will be the basis to help doctors accurately diagnose the disease condition and give the most effective treatment direction.
What is a microscopic fungus direct exam? It is a not too complicated test, the cost of one test is also very economical, the results are fast, especially with high diagnostic value for acute urethritis. The figure shows urethritis caused by gonorrhea bacteria.
For men, when having a disease related to the genital tract, will cause signs of infection, at the same time increase urethral discharge with symptoms such as pain, burning.
What is microscopic fungi direct exam for? Through microscopic fungi, direct exams and related tests will help the doctor evaluate the infection and other diseases if any.
You should go to the hospital to have microscopic fungi direct exam when you appear to have symptoms of a suspected disease as follows:
• Have urethral discharge.
• When urinating with a burning sensation, difficulty urinating, shallow urination or sometimes urinating pus. The urinary tract is swollen and red, worse than the pain that feels like a knife.
• There is a burning sensation during sex.
• If the condition is serious, or not treated properly, there will be a tingling sensation along the urinary tract, cloudy pus. In some cases, the patient has seen a cloud of pus sticking in his pants after waking up one night.
How Is A Urethral Swab Direct Exam Performed?
Examination of the urethral fluid will be performed according to the following steps:
Step 1: First, the doctor will do a physical exam on the patient’s genitals. The patient may need to clean the external genitals again with water and blot them dry.
The doctor then instructs the patient to gently swipe along the urethra to secrete pus and will use a sterile cotton swab to soak the pus on a slide.
This test sample will be placed in a test tube or special bag for storage and transported to the laboratory for analysis of the fluid sample.
Step 2: At the testing center, the specimen will be stained and the dye specimen read under the microscope.
After the results are available, they will be returned to the clinician for further diagnosis and treatment regimen for the patient within 1-2 hours (depending on the laboratory).
Other diagnostic tests may be required by the patient to improve diagnostic value.
Step 3: The clinician will analyze the results of the urethral swab direct to the patient and answer their patient.
Step 4: Based on the cause of the disease and each specific disease, the doctor will recommend the most effective regimen to improve the effectiveness of treatment.
Note that before taking samples for testing of urethral fluid, in case of suspicion of acute urethritis, patients often have a lot of pus in the genital area, so sampling is usually quite simple compared to chronic urethritis.
In the case of chronic urethritis, patients should hold urine for 2 – 3 hours before taking specimens. In addition, patients can also ask their doctor for advice on issues to note before taking specimen samples to prepare and save as much time as possible.
Usually, in order to be able to determine the exact cause of the disease, after a clinical examination, in addition to a urethral swab direct exam, the doctor may order the patient to conduct other related tests.
Only a urethral swab direct exam is usually not possible to determine the exact cause of the urethritis if it is caused by Chlamydia or Mycoplasma.
However, if the doctor suspects that the patient has gonorrhea urethritis, then urethral swab direct exam is often of high diagnostic value.
What Do The Urinary Examination Results Reflect?
Examination of urethral fluid will be based on the structure, morphology, and color-catching properties of bacteria when using gram staining to distinguish gram-negative bacteria and gram-positive bacteria.
Normal gram staining technique will be carried out with fresh microscopy and physiological saline, helping the doctor evaluate the activity of genital whip if any.
The result of a conventional genital fluid smear will help detect conditions through an assessment of the types of bacteria that are causing the disease. For normal results will include:
• Fungi: Commonly the fungus is the fungus Candida albicans, the yeast cells are oval in shape, or sometimes without the mycelium, which catch the gram-positive color. A negative result means no fungal infection.
• Trichomonas: Usually, it is preferred to observe at a fresh examination with physiological saline so that mobility can be assessed. A negative result means that there is no infection with Trichomonas vaginalis.
• Gram-positive cocci: a negative result means no infection with gram-positive cocci.
• Gram-negative bacilli: A negative result means no infection with typical gram-negative bacilli such as pseudomonas, Escherichia.
• Leukocytes: A positive result means there is a white blood cell in the sample. This is a sign of inflammation.
• Gram-negative biocytes: A negative result means that there is no gonorrhea.
• Clue cell (-): Clue cell is negative in the sample.
• Test sniff (-): Negative.
Bacteria: After observing samples of bacteria that cause genital tract infections such as gram-negative cocci, gram-positive cocci, gram-negative bacilli will help your doctor evaluate these bacteria.
In addition, special attention should be paid to the presence of gram-negative cocci inside and outside the leukocytes, this is one of the suggested bases related to gonorrhea.
For the abnormal presence of typical etiologies such as fungi, gonorrhea bacteria (N.gonorrhoeae), Trichomonas, gram-negative bacteria will be important indicators for doctors to easily diagnose the causes of the love. infection.
Under normal circumstances, when reading test results, a negative (-) means normal in a urethral fluid.
Thus, urethral swab direct exam is one of the important tests, bringing high diagnostic value in the diagnosis of male diseases, the most typical of which is urethritis caused by gonorrhea bacteria.
To be able to read the most accurate results, patients should consult a doctor and follow the treatment guidelines to help bring the best treatment effect.
In addition, you should choose reputable medical clinics and clinics to ensure accurate results and high safety.
One of the best medical diagnostic addresses that many customers trust you can choose is the Diag – Medical Diagnostic Testing Center in Ho Chi Minh City with a team of experienced doctors and equipment. modern will bring the most accurate and fastest diagnosis results.
In addition, if you still have any questions you want to consult online before the test, you can also call Diag’s hotline: 19001717 for detailed and fastest consultation. At the same time, you can book an appointment through the hotline to easily arrange a suitable time.
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