Nucleic acid testing is currently the main means of detection of neo-coronavirus infection, pharyngeal swab collection is an important key step in nucleic acid testing, is the main sampling method for the diagnosis of neo-coronavirus infection, for whether the diagnosis is confirmed, whether the patient can be discharged from the hospital is of great significance. Today, Shenzhen Medico and everyone together to understand what is a pharyngeal swab and the process of pharyngeal swab collection.
What is a pharyngeal swab?
In fact, pharyngeal swab is a generic term, it includes nasopharyngeal swab and oropharyngeal swab, that is, according to the different sampling paths are divided into nasopharyngeal swab and oropharyngeal swab, currently the most sampling is oropharyngeal swab.
The difference between nasopharyngeal swabs and oropharyngeal swabs
The nasopharynx and oropharynx are both components of the human pharynx and belong to the upper respiratory tract area. In the sampling process of new coronavirus detection, they are divided into nasopharyngeal swabs and oropharyngeal swabs according to the different sampling paths.
First, nasopharyngeal swabs and oropharyngeal swabs differ in their sampling methods.
Nasopharyngeal swabs need to be collected through the nostrils, and during the sampling process, health care workers first fully moisten the cotton swab in the sampling solution, generally stand beside the patient in a lateral position, and then, with the patient's head naturally relaxed and fully tilted up, slowly rotate the swab against the wall of the nostril into one of the patient's nostrils to the nasal palate, and then slowly remove it while wiping and rotating.
The oropharyngeal swab is relatively simple. Before taking the sample, the patient should rinse his mouth with water and then tilt his head slightly, while the patient's mouth opens wide and makes an "ah" sound, the doctor quickly swabs the cotton swab deep into the bilateral pharyngeal tonsils and the posterior pharyngeal wall to wipe and absorb the secretions.
Secondly, nasopharyngeal swabs and oropharyngeal swabs bring different discomfort to the patient at the time of collection.
Nasopharyngeal swabs are usually collected without a pharyngeal reaction, but there will be a sore and painful sensation, and there may be a small amount of bleeding, but it can usually stop bleeding by itself; oropharyngeal swabs are usually collected with a pharyngeal reaction, where the patient's throat is stimulated by the swab and there will be nausea and vomiting, and the feeling of wanting to cough and sneeze.
Finally, for the sampler, the risks of collecting nasopharyngeal swabs and oropharyngeal swabs are different.
The collection of samples is a process that can be described as directly confronting the virus, with a greater risk of infection. When collecting nasopharyngeal swabs, patients are less likely to have pharyngeal reactions, the risk of exposure for medical sample personnel is lower, and the samples are collected more adequately, while when collecting oropharyngeal swabs, sampling personnel need to face the patient's open mouth, and patients inevitably have reactions such as coughing and sneezing, which is not only unfavorable to the operation of sampling personnel, but also a greater threat to sampling personnel.
