Preparing for your test

Some useful information to help you prepare properly for your blood sample collection and to collect the biological samples to be tested correctly.

Blood tests

Before any blood sample collection, it is important to pay attention to a few small but important rules. Fasting, diet, medication, physical exercise and body posture can all affect the reliability of the test.

Please follow the instructions below.

Fasting

You must come for your blood draw having fasted for at least 8 hours. During this time you may drink only small amounts of water; sugary drinks, alcohol, coffee and smoking must be strictly avoided, as these substances can make some blood chemistry measurements inaccurate.

Diet

In the days before the blood draw, your diet should be as normal as possible, avoiding sudden changes in calorie intake, whether higher or lower. Your diet should also be normal in quality, meaning an intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in line with your usual personal diet.

Medication

There are many studies on the effect of medication on laboratory tests. Interference may occur directly or indirectly at the analytical level. In the first case, its extent is not always fully predictable, owing to a wide range of individual variables that determine how the medicine is absorbed, metabolised and eliminated. The side effects of not all medicines on the market are sufficiently known, nor is any interference at the analytical level always analysed and reported. The most correct preparation for blood chemistry tests would involve stopping any drug treatment completely and for as long as possible. With the agreement of your doctor, you may suspend drug treatment; any medication taken must be reported at check-in.

Physical exercise

Changes in enzyme activity and in certain analytes coming from skeletal muscle following intense and prolonged physical exercise are expected, and such exercise should generally be avoided immediately before the blood draw or in the 8–12 hours before it. This rule must be strictly observed for urine tests to determine creatinine clearance.

Coagulation tests

You do not need to fast for coagulation tests. Anticoagulant therapy (Coumadin and others) or other medicines (acetylsalicylic acid, anti-inflammatories, etc.) must be reported at check-in.

Glucose tolerance test

For the glucose tolerance test you must have fasted for at least 8 hours and, after the glucose has been given, you must remain seated and may not smoke, drink or eat until the last blood sample has been taken.

This test is by appointment only.

Urine

Collection for a complete urinalysis

Wash the external genitals thoroughly and collect a sample of the first urine of the morning after a night’s rest of at least eight hours. If you urinated during the night, the urine collected in the morning must have remained in the bladder for at least four hours.

Use disposable containers available from pharmacies or the containers provided free of charge by POLISMedica.

Women are advised to wait at least three days after the end of their menstrual period.

Urine culture

You must collect a midstream urine sample. The urine must be collected in a sterile, wide-mouthed container. It is advisable to use the first urine of the morning, following the “midstream” technique as follows:

1. wash the external genitals thoroughly;
2. discard the first stream of urine, which cleans the last part of the urinary tract;
3. collect the following urine directly in the container, taking care not to touch the inside with your hands;
4. discard the last stream of urine.

Antibiotic and/or antifungal treatment may affect the test result.

24-hour urine

Collect all the urine passed during the day and night as follows:

1. discard the first urine of the morning and note the time (for example 7:00);
2. collect all the urine passed during the day and night in a container;
3. the following morning, complete the collection with the urine passed at the same time as the previous day (for example 7:00), in the same container;
4. at the end of the collection, bring the container with all the collected urine to the Laboratory.

Use disposable containers available from pharmacies or containers provided by the Laboratory.

Please note: the urine must be kept in the fridge throughout the collection period.

Urine cytology

You must use sterile containers provided by the Laboratory, containing a preservative solution. How to collect:

1. wash your genitals thoroughly;
2. discard the first urine of the morning;
3. drink about one litre of water;
4. after drinking the whole litre of water, urinate into a plastic container and pour the urine into the container provided by the Laboratory.

If the test is to be carried out on three samples, repeat the whole procedure on three consecutive days and keep the closed containers at room temperature (15–25 °C), away from heat sources.

End-of-shift urine toxicology tests

For these tests, urine must be collected at the end of the work shift in the special container provided directly by the Laboratory or bought at a pharmacy.

If you are using a pot, collecting “three finger-widths” of urine is enough; if you are using a tube, it must be filled completely. The container must be kept in the fridge, or in any case in a cool place, until it is handed in.

The collection should preferably be carried out at the end of the working week.

Stool

Stool culture

The stool sample must be collected at the onset of the bowel disorder, during the diarrhoeal phase and before starting antibiotic treatment. Stools must be collected in the special containers provided by the Laboratory or sold in pharmacies. A walnut-sized amount of stool is needed for the test to be carried out correctly. It is advisable to collect an early-morning sample, but if this is not possible, stool from the previous day kept in the fridge may be handed in.

Please tell the Reception staff if you are taking antibiotic or antifungal treatment, as this could alter the results.

Faecal occult blood test

Stools must be collected in the container provided by the Laboratory (containers with preservative liquids will not be accepted). A walnut-sized amount of stool is needed for the test to be carried out correctly. Avoid collecting the sample during your menstrual period.

We recommend collecting three stool samples on different days.

The biological material can be stored at 2–8 °C for 24 hours.

Complete stool test

Stools must be collected in the special containers provided by the Laboratory or sold in pharmacies (containers with preservative liquids will not be accepted). A walnut-sized amount of stool is needed for the test to be carried out correctly. The biological material can be stored at 2–8 °C for 24 hours.

Stool test for parasites and their eggs

Stools must be collected in the special containers provided by the Laboratory or sold in pharmacies (containers with preservative liquids will not be accepted). A walnut-sized amount of stool is needed for the test to be carried out correctly. Because parasites are shed only intermittently, for an accurate result it is advisable to collect three stool samples on different days. The biological material can be stored at 2–8 °C for 24 hours.

Other tests

Sputum cytology

Sputum must be collected in the morning, on an empty stomach, in a sterile pot.

1. Rinse your mouth thoroughly by gargling with water.
2. Cough up deeply, to avoid collecting saliva.
3. Collect the sputum directly in the container provided by the Laboratory.
4. Keep the container closed at room temperature (15–25 °C), away from heat sources, and hand the sample in to the Laboratory.

Semen culture

You must abstain from sexual intercourse for the 2 days before the test; you must have stopped any antibiotic or antifungal treatment at least a week before (for Mycoplasma tests, antibiotic treatment must have been stopped 15 days before); the collection must be preceded by thorough cleaning of the external genitals and hands; the semen must be collected directly into a sterile container, provided by the Laboratory or bought at a pharmacy.

The collection must be done in the morning and the container handed in to the Laboratory within one hour.

Semen analysis

The period of sexual abstinence (no ejaculation) must be 3–5 days before the collection. If you think (or already know) that you will find it difficult to provide the sample in the toilet of the Outpatient Clinic, you may collect it at home, but you must:

• use a suitable sterile container provided by the Laboratory or bought at a pharmacy;
• collect the entire ejaculate;
• hand it in no later than one hour after collection, carrying the tightly closed container under your clothes, in contact with your skin.

The test must be carried out at least three months after any high fever above 38 °C.

This test is by appointment only.

Swabs

Vaginal swab

You must abstain from sexual intercourse for the 48 hours before the test, must not have taken antibiotic and/or antifungal treatment for a week, must not be menstruating, and must not have douched or used vaginal pessaries or creams for 5 days.

This test is by appointment only.

Endocervical swab

You must abstain from sexual intercourse for the 48 hours before the test, must not have taken antibiotic and/or antifungal treatment for a week (for Chlamydia and Mycoplasma tests, antibiotic treatment must have been stopped 15 days before), must not be menstruating, and must not have douched or used vaginal pessaries or creams for 5 days.

This test is by appointment only.

Urethral swab

You must abstain from sexual intercourse for the 48 hours before the test, must not have taken antibiotic and/or antifungal treatment for a week (for Chlamydia and Mycoplasma tests, antibiotic treatment must have been stopped 15 days before), and must not urinate in the last three hours.

This test is by appointment only.

Throat swab

You must not have eaten or drunk anything for two hours and must not have carried out any oral hygiene. In addition, you must not have taken systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals for 7 days, nor used local treatments for 5 days.

Nasal swab

You must not have taken systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals for at least 7 days and must not have inhaled sprays or drops of any kind for 5 days. Avoid using cleansers to wash your face.

This test is by appointment only.

Eye swab

You must not have taken systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals for at least 7 days and must not have used drops or eye drops of any kind for 5 days. Avoid using cleansers to wash your face.

This test is by appointment only.

Ear swab

You must not have taken systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals for at least 7 days, nor used ear drops for at least 5 days.

This test is by appointment only.

Perianal swab

You must not have taken systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals for at least 7 days and must not have washed the perianal area since the evening before.

This test is by appointment only.

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