Correctly pass feces on. Why submit stool for analysis? Proper collection of stool sample

To establish a diagnosis related to digestive disorders, as well as diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, doctors often prescribe a person to take stool tests. Patients often neglect methods of preparation and the correct collection of analysis, or simply do not know how to take a stool test.

This often leads to an adult or child being misdiagnosed and receiving inappropriate treatment.

Therefore, patients should understand that a correct examination of feces will only be carried out if all the rules for taking the test are followed.

What stool tests are performed?

Before you start collecting feces for analysis, the child’s parents or the person himself must understand what is being tested, what kind of analysis will be carried out, since the rules for preparing and collecting tests will entirely depend on this.

A stool test is performed for:

Before undergoing a stool test, you need to find out what kind of tests they do in the hospital and consult about the time of receiving the material.

How to collect feces for coprogram?

How to test feces for occult blood?

This analysis is taken in the same way as the previous one. An important point is to follow a diet before taking the test. For 3-5 days you need to stop eating meat by-products, as well as fish.

You should also exclude foods high in iron. Since these substances can color stool dark, and meat can pass through undigested with blood, it is better to protect yourself from this, because, having noticed blood in the stool, the doctor may make an incorrect diagnosis, suspecting a severe pathology.

Testing feces for worm eggs

This analysis is collected more often in children than in adults. Here it is important to collect the stool quickly and it is advisable to deliver it warm to the hospital for analysis (take two to three teaspoons of the material). This must be done because some worms die and may not be detected in feces during long-term storage.

Is it possible to donate evening stool during this analysis? Not advisable. It is better to prepare a jar in the evening and wait until the morning, since many worms best leave the body in the morning, and can even crawl out of a person’s anus at night. You can eat whatever you want before taking such an analysis.

Interesting video:

How to make a scraping?

Laboratory assistants often hear requests to scrape the child’s stool brought by the parents. This question always makes me smile. Scraping is a test for pinworm eggs and cannot be detected in feces. In order to make a scraping, you need to stick a small piece of tape (2cm * 5cm) to the anus of an adult or child. Then this tape is immediately glued to the glass (it can be glass issued from a hospital, or it can be an ordinary home jar - the main thing is that it is clean). The glass is brought to the laboratory and analyzed there. It is easier to collect feces from an adult than from a baby, especially if he does not yet go to the potty. In this case, a clean potty and diaper can help. You cannot take feces from diapers. Before emptying, you need to put the baby on his stomach for a few minutes, turn him over on his back and massage his tummy, and the feces will come out onto a clean diaper. It’s easier with older children – just sit them on the potty. If the baby is unable to go to the toilet due to constipation, then you can consult a doctor about the advisability of taking laxatives; you should not give them yourself, so as not to spoil the analysis.

It is clear that in children it is impossible to adjust the time of defecation, but it is better that feces are not stored for more than 12 hours, since otherwise the result may be unreliable.

When collecting stool analysis from an adult or child, it is important to adhere to the rules described above. This will help to study the material more accurately.

You will receive a reliable analysis and in case of pathology, you will be prescribed the correct treatment. After all, taking certain medications unnecessarily can, on the contrary, worsen your health. Therefore, it is important to understand that the correctness of the results primarily depends on the collection of material for analysis.

Stool analysis can reveal dysfunction of the intestinal tract, liver and pancreas. In correctly collected material, specialists will also be able to see the presence of eggs of various helminths, blood and bile acid. How to properly prepare your body and collect tests? There is nothing complicated in this procedure; it is enough to follow a few rules.

How to properly take a stool test - necessary materials

To collect feces we will need:

• Clean container.
• Stick or spatula.

The containers for storage and delivery can be anything, the main thing is that it is dry, clean and can be closed. Baby food jars, medicine bottles are suitable for these purposes, or you can purchase a convenient plastic container at any pharmacy.

How to take a stool test correctly

To obtain reliable results, you need to adhere to some rules:

• The sample for submission must be obtained only as a result of natural emptying. The patient should not use enemas, suppositories, teas or laxatives for the final purpose.
• The day before, exclude from your diet foods that cause discoloration of stool, diarrhea or constipation. These include carrots, blueberries, beets, cabbage, dried apricots, and dairy products.
• X-ray contrast studies during which the patient takes barium sulfate are prohibited 2-3 days in advance. Because of this, stool changes its structure and acquires a white coating.
• It is better for women not to take tests during menstrual bleeding. But, if samples need to be taken urgently, then you need to prevent blood from getting into the stool by using a regular tampon.
• Immediately before collection, empty the bladder and wash the perineum with clean water and soap.
• Please note that feces should not come into contact with the surface of the toilet, otherwise they will quickly acquire a different composition. To avoid this, experts recommend placing a clean bag or plastic container in front of the anus during bowel movements. After this, you need to put on rubber gloves and transfer the sample (one teaspoon will be enough) into a container for delivery to the laboratory.
• You can collect a sample from a baby directly from a diaper or diaper. The main thing is that there are no drops of urine in the feces.

Indicate information about yourself on the containers for collecting samples - last name, first name, address.

How to take a stool test correctly - collection time and storage

The accuracy of the results is affected by the freshness of the collected material. Ideally, feces should be donated within 2 hours of a bowel movement. But, if due to circumstances this is not possible, the feces should be placed in an airtight container, sealed tightly and stored in the refrigerator. The sample is suitable for delivery within 10-12 hours after collection.

Where to take the collected stool test

The collected tests, which do not require special examination, are accepted for diagnosis at the clinic at the place of residence. You must first contact your local physician and get a referral. Reception of samples starts at 7.00 and continues until 9 – 10 am. Laboratory assistants work quickly, and within 3-4 hours you will be able to collect the final results from your doctor.

There are general rules for collecting stool. Here is their list:

• The sample for analysis must be obtained by spontaneous bowel movement. This means that you cannot take any laxatives or do enemas for this.
• It is recommended to adhere to proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for several days before collecting the sample. You should not include foods that contribute to gas formation, constipation or diarrhea, or drink alcohol or fast food. You should also avoid eating beets and other foods that can affect the color of your stool.
• On the eve of stool collection, it is recommended to stop taking the following medications: activated carbon, bismuth, rectal suppositories, pilocarpine.
• You cannot conduct X-ray contrast studies 2 days before submitting the sample, since they involve taking barium sulfate. It gives stool a white color and changes its composition.
• During menstruation, women are advised not to donate stool. If this is not possible, then a swab must be used during sample collection. This will prevent blood from getting into the stool.
• You should empty your bladder before collecting the sample. Then urine will not get into the feces. After this, wash your perineum thoroughly with soap and water, and then dry thoroughly.
• Please note that feces for analysis should not come into contact with the surface of the toilet bowl, otherwise it will have a different chemical composition. Therefore, before defecation, you should place a large, clean bag or container in front of the anus. After collecting the sample, be sure to wear rubber gloves (stool often contains pathogenic bacteria). Then transfer the required amount of feces into a container in which it will be sent to the laboratory.
• If you need to collect feces from a small child, you can do this directly from the diaper, but it is important that the baby has not urinated in it before.
• It is necessary to take a stool sample (1-2 teaspoons) as soon as possible (preferably no later than 6 hours after defecation) in a sealed, clean container. After all, after time, the microbiological composition of the sample changes.
• If there is a sticker on the container for collecting the sample, then indicate your data on it (age, full name, etc.).

Sample storage

As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to submit feces for analysis as soon as possible. But if for some reason this is not possible, then you should know how to properly store the samples. This should be done in an airtight container at a temperature from +3 to +5 degrees. This means placing stool in the refrigerator. However, samples can be kept in it for no more than 48 hours. If you leave stool at room temperature, bacteria will begin to multiply in it, which will affect the test results.

Delivery of samples

Now let's look at how to take a stool test to the laboratory. They are brought in glass or plastic containers. You can first take a special container from the laboratory. As a rule, sample collection starts at 7 am and continues until 10-11 am. Test results are usually ready after 1-2 days. You need to go with them to the doctor who prescribed the test for you. He will help you decipher them correctly and, if necessary, prescribe effective treatment.

Modern diagnostic methods are able to recognize disease based on tests that previously provided only a limited understanding of a person’s health. Thus, submitting stool for analysis helps to establish the cause of many negative symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract. In order for the analysis to reflect the real picture of a person’s condition, it is necessary to comply with a number of rules for collecting biomaterial. Find out what causes of diseases and abnormalities are identified based on test results.

Indications for submitting stool for analysis

Analysis of stool to determine the ability of the gastrointestinal tract to digest is called a coprogram. The information obtained from the results of the study about the physical and chemical characteristics of feces helps to simultaneously draw conclusions about digestive diseases and monitor the progress of treatment. Indications for having stool tested are the following diseases and conditions:

The preparatory stage before the tests is as important as the tests themselves. Failure to comply with collection rules may lead to incorrect study results and incorrect treatment. Recommendations on how to prepare for testing include the following factors:

1. The collection must be planned only in the morning. To prevent microflora located on the surface of the body from entering the feces, hygiene procedures for the rectal area are carried out using soap. For the same reason, you cannot collect biomaterial from the surface of the toilet. It is necessary to prevent any other secretions and fragments from entering the stool collection container.
2. Two days before harvesting, it is necessary to exclude coloring foods from the diet.
3. Three days before collection, you need to stop taking medications that increase intestinal motility, stimulate the secretion of gastric juice, change the color of stool (iron, barium, bismuth, activated carbon), and antibiotics.
4. It is advisable to follow a diet in advance that contains cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and bread.

Preparation for donating stool to detect “occult blood”

In preparation for taking a test for occult blood in feces, it is necessary to follow a diet for three to four days excluding fish, liver and offal (for example, chicken hearts), meat, beef, paprika, tomatoes, beets, and apples. The consumption of alcoholic beverages should be avoided. If there are hemorrhoidal bleedings, you should wait until they are eliminated. During the menstrual period, testing feces for occult blood is highly undesirable.

You cannot take the test earlier than 2 days after an X-ray examination, taking polycapran, or hemostatic agents. Two weeks before collecting biomaterial, you should refrain from procedures and medications such as:

• laxatives;
• colonoscopy, enemas, rectal suppositories;
• drugs that increase the likelihood of bleeding (Ibuprofen, Aspirin);
• X-ray examination of the gastrointestinal tract.

Principles of collecting stool for analysis

If the preparation for the stool test was successful, it is time to collect it. To obtain an accurate result, you need to perform a number of special measures:

1. The sample is obtained naturally; the use of laxatives or enemas is prohibited.
2. Before collecting stool, prepare a sterile stick and container; do not use non-sterile containers.
3. You need to donate feces right away. The test requires fresh stool. No more than 3-4 hours should pass between the time of collection and the time of sending to the laboratory. This is due to the fact that after 4 hours from the moment of collection, the microbiological composition of fecal masses changes. Store the sample in a cool place, but do not freeze it.
4. Do not collect feces from the toilet, since microorganisms living on its walls can get into the feces and distort the result of the coprogram. Empty in a clean bag, potty, or place cling film over the toilet.
5. If you are testing for eggs of worms and other worms, take samples from 2-3 stools, while collecting biomaterial from different places.
6. If a woman is menstruating, you should refuse to donate stool. If the analysis is needed urgently, then use a tampon when emptying - this way blood will not get inside the sample.
7. For one sample you will need to provide 10–15 g of fecal matter.

Glassware for analysis

Submission of stool for analysis should be carried out using sterile containers. It is sold in any pharmacy and can be made of plastic or glass. The container is equipped with a lid and a spatula. If it is not possible to purchase a special container, donate fecal matter in a small bottle with a lid, which must be thoroughly rinsed and dried before use. Rules:

• Before submitting to the laboratory, store the container or bottle at a temperature not exceeding +5 degrees. At a higher temperature, fermentation processes and the proliferation of putrefactive bacteria will begin in the biomaterial.
• To determine dysbiosis, feces are collected at any time, but they can be stored for no more than a day before delivery.
• It is advisable to store samples in the refrigerator.

Stool examination

If the stool collection was successful, you can send it to the laboratory for diagnosis. It takes about three days. Experts examine feces for the main characteristics:

1. The color is defined like this:
   • A reddish tint indicates ulcerative or oncological pathologies. If there is blood, there is a suspicion of intestinal malignancy.
   • Yellow color indicates digestive disorders, dysbacteriosis or the presence of infection.
   • Black stool may indicate bleeding or the presence of blood clots in the stomach cavity.
   • A light yellow tint indicates the first signs of hepatitis and pancreatitis.
   • If the stool is white, there is a possibility of a blocked bile duct.
2. Consistency - loose stool indicates the occurrence of inflammatory processes, dysbacteriosis, hypersecretion of the mucous membrane in the small intestine. Feces with a pasty texture may indicate cholecystitis or pancreatitis. Too dense stool indicates stenosis or inflammation in the colon, which stores processed food material. The problems lead to constipation and the formation of dense masses of feces.
3. Smell – weak may indicate disturbances in accelerated evacuation or insufficient digestion. If the patient has an ulcer, the stool has a putrid odor, but a sourish tint will indicate problems with the pancreas or the presence of blood in the mass.

Protein in stool

To determine the presence or absence of intestinal dysfunction, the protein content in the stool is determined. It is absent in a healthy person. The presence of protein elements may indicate disease.

Before you do a coprogram, you should learn how to properly take a stool test. Careful preparation and the correct process of collecting material are very important, because this is what allows you to obtain reliable results.

Food entering the human body is digested in stages. It sequentially passes through different parts of the digestive tract. It is for this reason that feces can be used to judge how all organs work. The mass of feces consists of bacteria and poorly digested food. Feces contain coloring pigments and mucus. There are also a few cells that line the human intestine.

If a stool analysis shows that there are deviations from the norm, this becomes a signal for the doctor to act. By the presence of deviations, one can judge which organ of the digestive tract is not functioning properly. The doctor examines the test results and prescribes treatment. The analysis allows you to find out whether your liver and stomach are in order, and whether other organs are working well.

How to collect material correctly?

If you are interested in getting the right results, take into account all the recommendations and learn how to properly collect feces. Prepare yourself by going on a special diet for several days. Do not eat meat and fish dishes, beets, tomatoes and green vegetables. Give preference to porridge, potato or other vegetable puree, which is very simple to make. It is good to eat dairy products at this time, you can include some fruits in your diet. It is better not to take medications, if possible.

Remember that after undergoing an X-ray examination of the digestive system, if barium was used, you must wait at least two days before collecting the material. The same is true for an enema or colon examination. After all these procedures, some time must pass, and only then can an analysis be collected - then the results of the stool analysis will be reliable.

Women should prepare especially carefully. They should not submit material if menstruation has begun. Approach the collection process responsibly. Cleanliness of the body is the key to success. Before donating material, wash around the anus. This ensures that the analysis result is not distorted. Pay attention to the condition of the genitals; this area should be clean.

Remember that you only need to collect stool that has not been stimulated by laxatives. Wait for spontaneous bowel movements. If you speed up the bowel cleansing process, it may affect the composition of the stool and change the results.

Please note that there should be no menstrual blood in the material. You cannot donate stool that has had urine on it. Take a container from the laboratory and use a spatula to place the material in it. It is best to store the analysis in the container, without using other containers.

Fill the container one third full. There is no need to take a lot of material; it should not be more than a teaspoon. Take the material to the laboratory, this must be done on the day you collected it. Now you know how to collect the analysis correctly. Remember that you cannot store the analysis for days. You should find out more about how long the material can be stored in advance.

Specialists will conduct a study and examine the stool using several parameters. If the indicators of some parameter are not normal, then there is a disease. Laboratory workers look at what the stool looks like. It should be brown. In addition, the specialist pays attention to the consistency; the feces should be dense. The smell of the material is also studied. It shouldn't be harsh.

First, feces are examined with the naked eye. There should be no food debris in it, no blood or mucus. After this, they begin a more thorough study of the collected material. Specialists check for hidden blood and proteins.

In addition, the presence of pigments is detected, which can be used to judge the function of the gallbladder and liver. The coprogram will show all this. We are talking about stercobilin and bilirubin, they are responsible for the coloring of stool.

If the characteristics change

If the flow of bile is impaired, obstructive jaundice may occur. The stool becomes clay-like in color. Usually, before this, patients complain to doctors about hepatic colic.

With a stomach ulcer, changes also occur in the stool. If the ulcer begins to bleed, and this becomes possible when a blood vessel at the bottom ruptures, the stool becomes black. It begins to resemble tar and melena forms. Usually the pain decreases, but this condition is very dangerous. We urgently need to seek help.

If a specialist finds blood in a material sent for study to a laboratory, this indicates that the person may suffer from hemorrhoids or dysentery.

In order for food to be digested well, pancreatic juice must take part in the process. If little of it is produced, then food is poorly digested, and putrefactive bacteria multiply in the intestines. Feces with this disease contain undigested food; it can be seen without a microscope, since the fragments are large. In addition, feces emits a pungent, even putrid odor. If you recognize these symptoms, you should visit a specialist.

With dysbacteriosis, pathological microflora multiplies extremely quickly. But the normal one turns out to be depressed. The feces begin to emit a sharp, very unpleasant odor.

If the doctor suspects that the patient has dysbiosis, he may refer him for additional stool analysis. It is enough to do a bacteriological analysis to confirm or refute the doctor’s assumptions. Find out how to take it correctly, this is an important point.

Changes in stool composition

After doctors study the stool samples taken, they make a conclusion. The presence of protein, as well as carbohydrates and undigested food particles in the feces is marked with a “+” sign. Do the same if the material contains leukocytes or muscle fibers. The coprogram is repeated, if necessary.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the results of the analysis in young patients.

Analysis of material in children may show the presence of:

• muscle fibers;
• fat

As a child becomes older, he quickly gets used to a variety of foods. It is well digested, all useful substances are well absorbed.

If there is protein in the stool, the doctor may suspect chronic pancreatitis or atrophic gastritis. It is necessary to prescribe treatment, but first of all a coprogram is necessary. Find out in advance from the laboratory how long the material can be stored. This is important, especially if you live far away.

When studying the analysis, the doctor needs to pay attention to such a parameter as bilirubin. Normally, the fecal reaction to it should be negative. Meanwhile, in the first months of a child’s life, this pigment is found in feces. And this is considered the norm. But its appearance may be a signal that the child has dysbiosis or acute gastroenteritis.

With gastroenteritis, food quickly passes through the digestive system, and bilirubin can be detected in the stool. When there is no acute gastroenteritis, the transformation occurs in the large intestine.

In order for food to pass better, the intestines need to secrete mucus. If all processes are proceeding normally, then it is mixed with feces. If mucus is visible, your doctor may suspect irritable bowel syndrome. In addition, mucus is observed in colitis.

When the appearance of mucus is accompanied by diarrhea and abdominal pain, dysentery is suspected. First you need to collect stool, and if suspicions are confirmed, treatment begins. Its progress must be monitored by a doctor.