Series: infectious diseases and the office laboratory. Office laboratory diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases.

The office laboratory can be a tremendous resource for the physician. This is particularly true in the evaluation of STD, where many simple procedures may provide at least a preliminary diagnosis. Instead of waiting for more expensive culture results, the physician can make the diagnosis of Candida, Trichomonas or Gardnerella in the female and N. gonorrhoeae in the male, while the patient is in the office. Cultures for N. gonorrhoeae can be, with the use of the Phadebact or newer enzymatic sugar tests, completed in the office. This, however, is not recommended for an office which performs this test infrequently, because quality control procedures and known positives and negatives which should be incorporated into these procedures are often neither practical nor readily available. The wrong diagnosis in the area of STD leads not only to medical mismanagement but also to tremendous emotional and personal trauma. A good working relationship with a referral laboratory will augment the care and services you and your office laboratory can offer to the patient.