Specimen Requirements
Preferred option: Preserved urine in tubes.
Non-preferred option: Unpreserved urine in a cup, which must be refrigerated and received within 24 hours of collection.
Alternately, refrigerated urine or suprapubic aspirate in syringe with needle removed.
Supplies for Submission
Preferred option: One Yellow Top UA urinalysis tube and one urine culture transport tube containing containing boric acid and sodium formate/borate preservative e.g., BD Vacutainer urine culture transport tube.
Non-preferred option: Urine Cup (1)
Specimen Collection
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here to view urine collection procedure.
Storage Requirements
Refrigerated.
Preserved urine for urinalysis in Yellow Top UA tube is stable if stored at room temperature for 72 hours after collection.
Preserved urine for culture in urine culture transport tube is stable if stored at room temperature for 48 hours after collection.
Unpreserved urine in urine cup is stable if refrigerated for 24 hours after collection.
Causes for Rejections
Specimens with the following conditions are not accepted:
- unpreserved samples arriving at the lab more than 1 day after collection
- submitted in expired transport media, viral transport media, or formalin fixative
- submitted in leaky container or non-sterile container
- swabs
- frozen or contaminated samples