How many hours can it take to collect a stool sample? Features of taking a stool test: how long can you store stool in the refrigerator to get reliable results?

When should you get tested?

Coprogram is prescribed for diseases of the digestive tract and suspicion of them. The study is carried out to determine the condition of the intestines, liver, stomach, pancreas. The analysis helps to identify hidden blood, helminth eggs, pathogenic bacteria in the stool, and also determine the composition of the intestinal microflora.

Using a coprogram, you can diagnose the disease in the shortest possible time

Preparation

Since the use of medications can affect test results, Before doing a coprogram, it is recommended to stop taking anti-inflammatory and antacid medications, any antibiotics, laxatives and antidiarrheal medications, iron supplements and some other medications 1-2 weeks before (after consultation with a doctor). If you have not had time to stop these types of medications, be sure to notify the doctor that the child was taking them during the test.

It is also important to warn the doctor that the child had an enema or an X-ray examination in which barium was used shortly before the test. For three to four days before the coprogram, rectal suppositories should not be administered.

Preparing for the test also includes following a specific diet. On the eve of submitting stool for analysis, the child’s diet is limited to fish, vegetables, herbs, meat and fruits. Give your baby eggs, dairy products, cereals, butter, and baked goods.

On the eve of the coprogram, feed your child cereals, dairy products and bread

How much stool should I take?

For coprogram, you should provide feces in a volume of approximately one teaspoon.

How to assemble correctly?

Feces in the required quantity are collected in a clean container that has a tight-fitting lid. The best choice would be a sterile jar designed specifically for stool analysis, which can be purchased at a pharmacy.

In infants

Feces should be collected from the diaper, since the absorption of part of the liquid by the diaper can affect the result of the coprogram.

In older children

Before collecting stool, the child must urinate so that urine does not get into the stool. Next, you should wash the anus area with warm water using baby soap, which should be rinsed off thoroughly. The feces are placed in a clean container and tightly closed.

You should not collect stool from the toilet if it has previously been treated with disinfectants or cleaning agents.

At any pharmacy you can purchase a container in which you need to put a stool sample for analysis.

How, where and for how long can it be stored?

Decoding the coprogram in children is discussed in detail by us in another article. It gives not only the values of the norm, but also presents possible causes of deviations.

The discussion about how long a stool sample can be stored in the refrigerator periodically arises on a variety of medical forums. Both experts, and even more so amateurs, express very different opinions on this matter, often without specifying that the fundamental possibility, and especially the shelf life, will be different for different situations.

In this article I will try to examine this problem as fully as possible and give brief recommendations for the most common cases.

Stool tests

Types of analyzes

Before you figure out whether feces can be stored in the refrigerator in principle, and also how long this can be done, you need to have an idea of what kind of analysis we have to do.

As a rule, laboratories perform a not too extensive list of studies, including the following items:

Coprogram is a comprehensive study of physiologically significant parameters of human waste products. Allows you to diagnose dysfunction of the stomach, intestines, internal secretion organs, malabsorption, etc.

Analysis for dysbacteriosis is a study of intestinal microflora, which allows us to identify the concentration and ratio of “beneficial”, “neutral”, “opportunistic” and “pathogenic” groups of microorganisms. It is used as a comprehensive diagnostic tool and can also be accompanied by the study of the resistance of certain groups of microorganisms to antibiotics.
Scraping for enterobiasis - mainly reveals eggs of pinworms (pathogenic helminths belonging to the group of roundworms). Most often performed in children.

Test for helminth eggs (“worm eggs,” as it is more often called) – detects encapsulated eggs of pathogenic and opportunistic helminths in the feces. Allows you to diagnose ascariasis, trichinosis, hookworm and other pathologies that are caused by round and flatworms.
Occult blood test - performed when there is suspicion of hidden bleeding in any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Allows you to identify hidden blood cells that are not detected during microscopic examination.

As a matter of fact, the answer to the question of how long stool analysis can be stored in the refrigerator depends on the type of research: for some samples such storage is not allowed in principle, while others can be carried out in a refrigerated version.

Preparing for analysis

Proper preparation for sample collection is no less important than the correct answer to the question of whether stool analysis for the selected study can be stored in the refrigerator.

As with storage conditions, the approach to preparation directly depends on the type of testing, but general recommendations:

The biomaterial is submitted no earlier than 48 hours after the enema, and no earlier than 48 hours after an X-ray examination of the stomach or intestines.
At least one day before taking the sample, stop taking activated carbon and other sorbents, as well as laxatives.
The material is selected under typical dietary conditions, unless otherwise indicated: this means that it is not worth changing the diet or going on a special diet, since changes in the composition of food can distort the results of the study.
For analysis, stool obtained naturally is selected: the use of an enema or rectal suppositories is undesirable.

Important!
Sometimes mothers ask doctors how long a child’s stool can be stored in the refrigerator: in newborns and infants, the appearance of stool is difficult to predict, so obtaining biomaterial at the right time is difficult.
In a situation where sample cooling is not allowed by the analysis technology, the doctor sometimes allows the use of an enema.

A faecal sample of approximately 5 cm3 is collected with a sterile instrument and collected into a sterile, airtight container.

Sample storage conditions

Time limits for different tests

In this section, we will look at how much stool can be stored in the refrigerator for various studies. There are relatively few options here, so I will present them in the form of a table:

As you can see, most methods allow the storage of biological material in ordinary household refrigerators. At the same time, for example, when deciding how long you can store a stool test for helminth eggs in the refrigerator, it is worth calculating how quickly you can deliver the sample to the laboratory.

Even if you go to the toilet in the evening, it is extremely important that tests begin no later than eight hours later, otherwise the accuracy of identifying pathogenic organisms will be significantly reduced.

Well, the answer to a fairly popular question, whether it is possible to store stool analysis in the refrigerator for a day or more will be unambiguous: it is impossible under any circumstances. After 24 hours, irreversible processes will occur in the sample, and it will be almost impossible to establish objective physiological parameters.

How to store feces correctly and safely

If you are in a medical hospital, then the task of properly selecting and storing samples for research falls on the shoulders of the staff. For this purpose, there are special instructions, compliance with which will minimize the influence of external factors on both the composition of the biomaterial and its microflora.

However, you can select samples yourself.

Ensuring optimal conditions is quite simple, but to do this you should follow simple recommendations:

First, we buy it at the pharmacy or take a special container from the laboratory.(its price is purely symbolic, but it is much more convenient to use than a match or a medicine bottle). The container should be in a sterile package, with a tightly screwed lid; inside it there is usually a plastic spatula for the actual sampling.

Using a spatula, separate a small fragment from the feces(the optimal volume for each test is different, so ask your doctor) and place it in a container. When placing, make sure that feces do not get on the outside of the container or on the threads of the lid.
Screw the container tightly and wrap it in a plastic/paper bag.
Place the bag with the container in the refrigerator(not in the freezer!), setting it at a temperature that corresponds to the optimal conditions for the analysis you have chosen.

We place the container in such a way that it has minimal contact with unpackaged products.
We calculate the storage time in such a way that no more than 6-8 hours pass between the moment of sampling and delivery of the material to the laboratory.. During transportation, we try to maintain a low temperature using a thermal bag or ice pack.

Advice!
When cooling the test container with ice, it is important to prevent it from freezing!

Conclusion

It is necessary to decide how long stool can be stored in the refrigerator separately in each case: different tests require different conditions and different temperature conditions. You can understand this delicate issue in more detail by watching the video in this article, as well as consulting either with an analytical laboratory specialist or with me in the comments to the material.

The accuracy and information content of the obtained analysis result largely depends on how correctly the preparation and collection of biological material and its storage before delivery to the laboratory are carried out.

It is optimal to collect stool for examination in the morning and immediately deliver it to the laboratory. However, this does not always happen; some people have bowel movements during the day or evening, and children can have bowel movements at any time of the day. Therefore, the question of how long the collected material can be stored and under what conditions is very relevant.

When using a preservative, feces on worm eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.

How to properly collect stool for research

A week before the stool test, patients are advised to begin following a dairy-plant diet, which improves motor function and ensures daily bowel movements. Strict adherence to the diet is especially important in the event of an upcoming stool test for occult blood using the benzidine test.

To collect stool, you should prepare in advance a disposable container (take it from the laboratory or buy it at the pharmacy) or a small glass jar with a lid. The jar should be thoroughly washed with hot water and baking soda, then rinsed with boiling water or treated with steam and dried. However, it is better to use a disposable sterile container with a special spoon built into its lid, especially if a bacteriological examination or stool test for dysbacteriosis is prescribed in the container. Many laboratories refuse to accept material for research in any container other than standard.

You should also prepare in advance a pot or vessel where defecation will take place. They must be washed thoroughly, doused with boiling water and dried. In infants, feces are collected from a diaper or nappy.

Immediately before defecation, you should empty your bladder and perform a thorough toilet of the genitals. After bowel movement, a small volume of fecal matter, approximately 2-3 cm3, is taken from several places using a spoon built into the lid of the container. They should be placed in a container and then tightly closed with a lid.

Submitting stool for analysis is undesirable on days of menstrual bleeding in women, as well as earlier than 48 hours after performing diagnostic or therapeutic procedures affecting the intestines (enemas, colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, contrast fluoroscopy of the stomach and intestines).

The shelf life of fresh feces for coprogram does not exceed eight hours if it is stored on the middle shelf of the refrigerator in a tightly closed container.

If the patient takes laxatives, sorbents or uses rectal suppositories, then a stool test should be taken no earlier than 72 hours after the last time they were taken.

Features of material storage depending on the type of research

To assess the functions of the digestive system, identify bacterial infections and helminthic infestations, different types of laboratory tests of stool are performed:

general (clinical) analysis, or coprogram;
fecal analysis for helminth eggs;
bacteriological examination;
dysbacteriosis test;
occult blood test.

The answer to this question, how many hours before the collected feces should be delivered to the laboratory, also depends on what kind of research will be carried out.

General stool analysis: how long can stool be stored in the refrigerator?

The shelf life of fresh feces for coprogram does not exceed eight hours if it is stored on the middle shelf of the refrigerator in a tightly closed container. The middle shelf of the refrigerator provides a temperature range of 4–8 °C. Under no circumstances should you place a container with biomaterial in the freezer or on the side shelf of the refrigerator. Sub-zero temperature in the first case or frequent temperature changes as a result of opening and closing the refrigerator in the second negatively affect the natural parameters of feces, which will lead to distortion of the analysis result. It is quite possible to store material on the middle shelf of the refrigerator from evening until morning. The main thing is that the storage time of feces at room temperature is minimal, ideally it should not exceed 15-20 minutes.

Feces for analysis for dysbacteriosis must be delivered to the laboratory no later than three hours after collection.

Preservation of stool for analysis of worm eggs

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Collection and preservation of stool for analysis of dysbacteriosis

A stool test for dysbacteriosis is a microbiological study of the characteristics of the microbial flora of the human intestine, which allows one to assess the relationship between three groups of microorganisms:

beneficial (colibacteria, bifidumbacteria and lactobacilli);
opportunistic (staphylococci, enterobacteria, fungi, clostridia);
pathogenic (Shigella, Salmonella).

Even minor violations of the rules for collecting fecal matter or storing it before delivery to the laboratory lead to a change in this ratio. As a result, the information value of the obtained research result is sharply reduced, which can lead to incorrect diagnosis and, accordingly, incorrectly prescribed treatment.

Feces for testing for bacteriosis should be collected before starting treatment with chemotherapy or antibacterial drugs. If for some reason this is not possible, then at least 12 hours must pass after the last dose of the drug.

72 hours before collecting the material, the patient is discontinued from all types of laxatives, including Vaseline or castor oil, as well as any rectal medications. Stool obtained after an X-ray examination of the intestine using contrast or an enema is not suitable for research.

It is optimal to collect stool for examination in the morning and immediately deliver it to the laboratory.

The vessel where defecation will take place is thoroughly washed with hot water, rinsed with a disinfectant solution (0.5% chloramine solution, pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, furatsilin solution), then doused with boiling water and dried.

In the morning, the patient urinates in the toilet, then performs toileting of the genitals. After self-defecation in a bedpan, using a spoon built into the lid of a disposable container for biomaterial, take feces from several areas and place them in the container, filling it to 1/3 of the volume, and close the lid.

Feces for analysis for dysbacteriosis must be delivered to the laboratory no later than three hours after collection. During this entire time, it is advisable to store the container at a temperature of 4-8 ° C, covering it with ice cubes or placing it in a cold pack. As a last resort, it is possible to store stool in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 hours, however, the reliability of the result is considered reduced.

Mandatory conditions for collecting and storing stool for analysis for dysbacteriosis:

avoiding freezing of feces;
avoid storing the collected material for more than 6 hours before sowing on nutrient media;
use for collecting material only a sterile disposable container obtained in the laboratory or purchased at a pharmacy;
storage and transportation of stool to the laboratory only in a tightly closed container.

After collection, it must be delivered to the laboratory no later than 6-12 hours, otherwise it becomes unsuitable for research, even if it is in a sterile container.

Detection of occult blood

The test is necessary to diagnose internal bleeding of varying intensity in all parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Often prescribed to patients with suspected malignancy.

In most cases, it is impossible to detect blood in stool on your own, but with heavy bleeding, the material changes its color.

Indicators:

lower intestine (scarlet-colored impurities, clots);
small intestine, esophagus or stomach (the material takes on a black tint).

Preparation requires the exclusion of meat, fish, and green vegetables at least 72 hours before laboratory procedures. The patient is advised not to break his diet. You should not take laxatives in the form of suppositories or drops. Some medications affect the color, quality of the contents and intestinal motility.

If the results are positive, the doctor judges a violation of the integrity of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract (ulcers, colitis, polyps and infestations).

Mandatory for the formation of malignant formation. An occult blood test is performed if conventional microscopic examination fails to obtain reliable results.

Other types of bleeding - from the nose, gums or hemorrhoids - also influence the assessment of results. To clarify, the intestinal contents are taken for examination again.

How long can you store feces for occult blood?

Due to the rapid reaction of red blood cells with the environment, the material should not be stored for more than 4 hours.

Detection of helminths

For prevention

To protect the population

Such studies are necessary to prevent infection of a large group of people. A stool test is required before visiting a kindergarten, school or swimming pool.

According to the doctor's indications

Tests are carried out in case of obvious symptoms indicating infection with worms. There is itching in the anus, abdominal pain, worsening or increased appetite, nausea and chronic weakness.

If the test shows a negative result the first time, it may be re-prescribed.

Violation of the intestinal mucosa leads to serious consequences for the absorption function and processing of nutrients. Thanks to the study, pathogenic fungi and microbes are identified.

The day before the test, you cannot use enemas. Can be stored for no more than three hours.

How to properly collect feces

Only a sterile container is suitable for analysis. It must be purchased at the pharmacy and not printed until the chair.
Women do not undergo stool testing during menstruation. It may contain blood elements, which distorts the readings.
Before placing stool in a container, the external genitalia and anus are treated with laundry soap. To prevent the entry of pathogenic bacteria, you can use furatsilin or chlorhexidine. Then the skin is rinsed with regular warm water.
During bowel movements, use a separate clean potty or plastic bag. Collecting material from the toilet bowl is strictly prohibited.
To sample, a small area of 4-5 cm of feces is enough. For this, a special spoon is used, which comes with the container.
After this, the container is tightly sealed for further storage in the refrigerator.
The material must be delivered to the laboratory within 8 hours, if the type of research allows it.

Storage rules

If the analysis allows you to keep the stool in the refrigerator for some time, the container can be placed on the middle shelf away from the freezer.
The optimal storage temperature is no less than 4 and no more than 8 degrees Celsius.
Freezing the material destroys its components, making it unsuitable for further testing.
With a regular coprogram, it is allowed to store the container in the refrigerator for no more than 8 hours in the evening.
To determine dysbacteriosis and the degree of abnormalities in pathology, the container with the contents must be delivered to the laboratory no later than 3 hours. After this, the reliability of the result decreases significantly.

Collection of feces from a child

It is quite difficult to obtain material for research from young children. Infants under one year old have not yet developed the potty reflex.

Contents can be stored for up to 12 hours if it is a regular coprogram. To do this, feces are collected from the diaper so that foreign fibers do not get into the material. A piece of material is taken from the surface and carefully placed in a container.

There are also tests that need to be taken only fresh. In this case, parents will need to carefully monitor the baby's emptying and immediately collect the contents in a container.

Sending to the laboratory is carried out no later than three hours. If the time is up, the collection of material is postponed to the next time.

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