Collection Instructions

1. Clean the needle puncture site with alcohol, and disinfect it with an iodine solution (1 to 2% tincture of iodine or a 10% solution of povidone-iodine [1% free iodine]) to prevent introduction of infection. (If tincture of iodine is used, remove with 70% ethanol after the procedure to avoid burn).

2. The physician will aseptically perform percutaneous aspiration to obtain pleural, pericardial, peritoneal, or synovial fluids.

3. Expel any air bubbles from the syringe, and inject the specimen into a sterile green-stoppered tube. If an anaerobe culture is ordered, inject a portion of the specimen into a PORT-A-CUL anaerobic transport vial