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Discussion on Length of Time to Culture Again?
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Member:
indigo
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Posted on Friday, Mar 26, 2010 - 11:28 am:
Hi Dr. O,
How long do you have to wait after treatment to re-culture a mare?
I have a mare who was cultured dirty (e-Coli was the only thing found.) We flushed/treated her for three days. How long after the treatment do we have to wait before we culture her again? Tomorrow will be 13 days since her last treatment-- has enough time passed to do another cytology / culture to see if she is clean? She is currently in heat.
Also, in the case where we are re-checking, is a good cytology a sufficient indicator that there is no infection, or should I have a cytology AND culture done?
Thanks!
CC
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Mar 26, 2010 - 7:35 pm:
Hello CC,
It depends on the circumstances. I find culture results alone a unreliable indicator for infection, particularly with common contaminants like strep and e. coli show up in low numbers and there are no other signs of inflammation in the uterus. You have to look at the whole picture which includes history, visual exam of the cervix, cytology, rectal palpation, ultrasound, and yes culture. In general a good cytology is a better indicator of the uterine's health than a poor culture. The article associated with this discussion pretty much deals with cases of well established infection for a complete discussion on interpretation see, HorseAdvice.com » Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artificial Insemination » Uterine Culture and Cytology.
DrO
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Member:
indigo
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 27, 2010 - 12:01 am:
Thank you Dr. O, that is helpful info.
However, you didn't answer my question about how soon you can re-culture and/or examine cytology after initial treatment to see if said treatment was successful? I re-read the article and can't find the answer.
Thanks!
CC
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 28, 2010 - 9:27 am:
CC you could reculture or do cytology as early as the day following the last treatment if you feel it necessary. Some would suggest you wait a minimum of 72 hrs as the residual effects of the antibiotic may suppress the growth of bacteria present and may give a false negative but there is no research into this question. As long as all outward and ultrasonographic signs of infection are gone, most folks wait until the next onset of estrus to do a cytology and decide to culture from those results.
DrO
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