Smear (medicine)
A medical smear is the removal of the body's own test material from the surface of wounds or mucous membranes (mouth, urethra, vagina, anus) with sterile cotton swabs, small brushes or small spatulas for microbiological and / or cytological diagnostics.
Cytological smears
With smears for cytodiagnostic examination, cells are taken from the areas to be examined with the help of small spatulas, brushes and swabs . The examination is usually carried out after smearing the cells on a microscope slide and then microscopic assessment.
Examples
- gynecological Portioabstrich : A gynecological routine measure for the purposes of cancer screening is the Pap test (also called " Pap smear " or " Pap smear called").
- bronchoscopic smear if bronchial carcinoma is suspected
- Cervical smear
Microbiological smear
With the help of a sterile cotton swab, material is removed from a source of infection. The swab is usually streaked on culture media in a microbiology laboratory. After incubation, bacteria and resistance of the bacteria can be determined and the antibiotic therapy adapted to the pathogen.
Oral swab for DNA analysis
With the help of a sterile swab, the collection is made from the inside of the oral cavity. The DNA can be extracted from the few mucous membrane cells obtained in this way and examined ( saliva sample ).
It is used at:
- Parentage reports
- Generation of a genetic fingerprint
- Typing prior to a stem cell transplant
literature
- Stephan Dressler, Christoph Zink: Pschyrembel, Dictionary Sexuality . Walter de Gruyter Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-11-016965-7 , p. 4.