Finding the right tests…
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Finding the right tests…
Microbiology
A tissue culture grows a small piece of solid tissue, usually taken during a biopsy or surgery, to check for infection sitting deep inside the body rather than on a surface a swab can reach. Doctors reach for this when a surface swab either isn't possible, such as around a deep surgical site or prosthetic joint, or has already given a misleading answer, since skin bacteria can contaminate a swab and suggest an infection that isn't really there. A solid tissue sample avoids that surface contamination in a way a swab generally cannot.
This test reports whether bacteria grow from an actual piece of tissue, rather than from a surface swab, which matters most around deep surgical sites, joint replacements, and chronic wounds where skin bacteria can otherwise contaminate a swab and produce a misleading positive. Guidelines on bone and implant infections recommend taking several independent tissue samples from different points in the surgical field, rather than relying on just one, since testing more than one sample helps tell a genuine infection apart from a single contaminated piece.
A swab wiped across a surface picks up whatever bacteria happen to be sitting there, including ordinary skin flora unrelated to a deeper infection. Around chronic wounds, surgical sites, and implants, that surface contamination can produce a positive result that doesn't reflect what's actually happening in the tissue underneath, which is why a solid sample is preferred when deep infection is suspected.
Consensus guidance on suspected bone and implant infection recommends collecting several separate tissue samples from different points during the same procedure, rather than a single piece. One of several samples growing bacteria is more likely contamination during collection; multiple independent samples growing the same organism points toward a genuine infection.
Each sample is placed onto growth media, and any bacteria present multiply into colonies before they can be identified and tested against antibiotics. This growth step is why tissue culture takes distinctly longer than an immediate stain or microscopic look at the same sample.
No growth across the samples taken points away from a bacterial infection at that site. Growth, particularly from more than one independent sample, supports a real infection and identifies which antibiotic is likely to treat it, which is why this sampling is deliberately more cautious than a single swab culture.
A swab picks up surface bacteria that can include normal skin flora unrelated to any deeper infection, which risks a misleading result around deep wounds or implants. A solid tissue sample avoids that surface contamination.
It's usually taken during a biopsy or surgical procedure already being performed for another reason, using a small instrument to remove a piece of tissue from the area in question. It isn't a separate procedure done purely to collect a sample.
Taking several independent samples from different points helps tell a genuine infection, where multiple samples grow the same organism, apart from a single contaminated piece. One positive sample among several negatives is read differently than multiple matching positives.
This page is general information about the test, not medical advice. Your own report's reference ranges apply — please discuss your results with your doctor.
Bacteria need time to multiply into large enough colonies to identify, so tissue culture takes noticeably longer than an immediate microscopic look at the same tissue. Ask your doctor or the centre what to expect for your specific case.
Not entirely, especially if antibiotics were started before the sample was taken, since they can suppress bacterial growth. Your doctor reads the culture result alongside imaging, symptoms, and other tests.
No. A biopsy sent for tissue culture is checked for infection-causing bacteria, while a biopsy sent for pathology is examined for abnormal cells. The same procedure can sometimes provide tissue for both, sent to different parts of the lab.