Procedure for Culture Specimen Processing: Bronchial Lavage

The procedure for processing bronchial lavage specimens in TB cultures is the same as that for sputum samples. The following aspects need to be considered: 

• If the specimen is larger than 10 ml in volume, it needs to be concentrated by centrifugation (3000x g, 15-20 minutes) and the sediment resuspended in 5 ml sterile water.
• Thick/ mucoid samples need to be liquefied by mixing the specimen with a pinch (50-100 mg) of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NALC) powder.

The processed specimen is used to inoculate the MGIT tubes.

Resources

• MGIT Procedure Manual, Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) Culture and Drug Susceptibility Demonstration Projects, FIND Training Manual.

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