Matter coughed up and usually ejected from the mouth, including saliva, foreign material, and substances such as mucus or phlegm, from the respiratory tract.
[Latin spūtum, from neuter past participle of spuere, to spit.]
sputum
Dictionary:
spu·tum (spyū'təm)  |
n., pl., -ta (-tə).
Matter coughed up and usually ejected from the mouth, including saliva, foreign material, and substances such as mucus or phlegm, from the respiratory tract.
Matter coughed up and usually ejected from the mouth, including saliva, foreign material, and substances such as mucus or phlegm, from the respiratory tract.
| 5min Related Video: sputum |
| Dental Dictionary: sputum |
(spyōō′təm)
n
n
Matter ejected from the mouth; saliva mixed with mucus and other substances from the respiratory tract.
| Veterinary Dictionary: sputum |
Mucous secretion from the lungs, bronchi and trachea which is ejected through the mouth by humans but not so in animals and it is assumed that it is swallowed.
- s. cup — a small—1 inch diameter—cup on a long handle for the collection of sputum from the pharynx of a large animal.
- s. specimen — a sample of mucous secretion from the bronchi and lungs. The specimen may be examined microscopically for the presence of malignant cells (cytological examination) or tested to identify pathogenic bacteria (bacteriological examination).
| Wikipedia: Sputum |
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This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
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 Cocci-shaped Enterococcus sp. bacteria taken from a pneumonia patient. |
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| ICD-10 | R09.3 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 786.4 |
Sputum is matter that is expectorated from the respiratory tract, such as mucus or phlegm, mixed with saliva, which can then be spat from the mouth. It is usually associated with air passages in diseased lungs, bronchi, or upper respiratory tract. It can be found to contain blood if in a chronic cough possibly from severe cases of tuberculosis.
A sputum sample is the name given to the mucus that is coughed up from the lower airways. It is usually used for microbiological investigations of respiratory infections.[1]
The best sputum samples contain very little saliva[2], as this contaminates the sample with oral bacteria. This event is assessed by the clinical microbiologist by examining a Gram stain of the sputum. More than 25 squamous epithelial cells at low enlargement indicates salivary contamination.[citation needed]
When a sputum specimen is plated out, it is best to get the portion of the sample that most looks like pus onto the swab[citation needed]. If there is any blood in the sputum, this should also be on the swab.[citation needed]
Microbiological sputum samples are usually used to look for infections by Moraxella catarrhalis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Other pathogens can also be found.
Purulent Sputum is that containing, or consisting of, pus.
Sputum can be:
- Bloody (often found in tuberculosis) (Haemoptysis)
- Rusty colored - usually caused by pneumococcal bacteria (in pneumonia)
- Purulent - containing pus. The color gives hints about probable causes[3]:
- a yellow-greenish (mucopurulent) color points to a bacterial infection.
- a white, milky, or opaque (mucoid) appearance often means a viral infection.
- Foamy white - may come from obstruction or even Edema
References
- ^ Sputum definition - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms
- ^ Template:Clinical Microbiology procedures handbook, American Society for Microbiology 2nd Ed. 2007 update
- ^ Sputum Color is the Key to Treating Acute COPD Exacerbations
External links
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| Translations: Sputum |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - opspyt, spyt
Nederlands (Dutch)
sputum, spuug
Français (French)
n. - expectoration, crachat
Deutsch (German)
n. - Sputum, Speichel
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιατρ.) πτύελο, φλέμα, σίελος, σάλιο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - saliva (f)
Русский (Russian)
слюна, мокрота
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sputum, upphostning, utspottning, slem, spott
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
唾液, 痰
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 唾液, 痰
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) بلغم, بصاق
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - רוק, כיח
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Learn More
 | Emesis Basin (in medicine) |
| droplet infection (medicine) |
| Curschmann's spirals |
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
|
| Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sputum". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Emesis Basin (in medicine)
- droplet infection (medicine)
- Curschmann's spirals
- expectoration
