Evaluation of an Internal Hospital Practice: The Effect of Altered Sampling Protocol on Blood Culture Contamination Rates: An Open, Randomized, Prospective Study

Implementation of the initial specimen diversion technique, in which the first milliliter of the venipuncture sample is not injected into the culture bottle, led to a significant reduction in blood culture contamination rates. This technique is based on the assumption that the skin plug aspirated during venipuncture is a major source of contaminating bacteria. One such diversion method is aspirating the first blood volume into a blood collection tube. It has, however, been suggested that regular blood collection tubes carry contaminants from the tube's stopper into the blood cultures drawn afterwards, thereby increasing contamination rates. The aim of this trial is to examine the effect of aspirating the first blood volume into a regular blood collection tube on blood culture contamination rate.