Specimen Requirements

Specimen can be collected from outpatients and delivered Monday through Friday to Out-Patient Lab, Beebe Express, or doctor’s office for pickup by laboratory courier. Inpatient specimen can be collected at any time and delivered to Pathology. On nights and weekends, fixative will be added by Specimen Processing personnel. Specimen is stored for routine Pathology processing. For urgent cases, page pathologist on call at 302-441-5997. 

Container/Tube: Sterile container with no added fixative-Oral or nasal specimen is not acceptable.

Specimen Volume: Sputum

Forms: Sputum Cytology Specimen Collection Instructions for Patients

Collection Instructions:

1. Generally, 3 specimens on consecutive days are desired.

2. Sputum specimens should be from an early-morning, “deep cough” specimen. A nebulizer may be used to stimulate cough reflex.
3. Instruct patient to rinse mouth with warm water prior to collection.
4. An adequate specimen consists of approximately 1 tablespoon of sputum.

Note: 1. The following specimens will be returned to submitting physician:
A. No requisition form
B. Name on requisition form does not match name on specimen
C. Broken slide that cannot be reconstructed
D. Unlabeled specimen
E. No doctor’s name given
2. Label container with patient’s name, date of collection, physician’s name, and hospital identification number (if applicable).