Test Preparation

1. Before the blood test

• Please fast for 8–12 hours, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.
• If needed, you may drink a small amount of water.
• Continue taking your medication as instructed by your doctor and inform the laboratory staff.
• Please inform the staff if you have not been able to fast, if you have taken any medication before coming, or if you have experienced dizziness or fainting during previous blood tests.
• Avoid intense physical exercise and smoking for at least one hour before the test.
   

2. After the blood test

• Avoid lifting weights or making efforts with the arm used for the blood draw.
• Inform the staff immediately if you feel dizzy or unwell.

Before the test

• Please fast for 12 hours before the test.
• Avoid coffee, smoking and physical exercise before the test.
• If your doctor has prescribed a prior diet, follow it during the 3 days before the test.

During the test

• The test lasts approximately three hours.
• During this time, you must remain at rest in the waiting room.
• A blood sample will be taken before drinking the glucose solution and, afterwards, further blood samples will be taken every hour up to a maximum of three hours.

The test lasts one hour. During this time, you must remain at rest in the laboratory waiting room.

• An initial glucose measurement is taken, either by finger-prick capillary testing or by a blood sample.
• You will then be asked to drink a liquid containing glucose.

After one hour, another blood sample will be taken.

30 days before (1 month before) the test, it is important:

• Not to have undergone a gastroscopy or colonoscopy.
• Not to have taken antibiotics.
• Not to be undergoing treatment with gastric antisecretory medication (such as omeprazole). If it was taken only occasionally, you must wait 15 days.

The test must be performed while fasting —both liquids and solids— (minimum 8 hours).

The test lasts approximately twenty minutes. During this time, you must remain at rest in the laboratory waiting room.

Immediately before and during the test:

• Do not brush your teeth
• Do not smoke
• You must not have performed any physical exertion
• Do not eat or chew gum

30 days before (1 month before) the test, it is important that:

• You have not undergone any bowel cleansing or colonoscopy.
• You have not received antibiotic therapy or taken aspirin, prokinetics, laxatives or enemas.

The test lasts approximately three hours. During this time, you must remain at rest in the laboratory waiting room.

The day before the test, you must follow a diet low in fermentable carbohydrates.

The test must be performed after fasting for 12 hours.

30 minutes before and during the test: you must not smoke, you must not have performed any physical exertion, and you must not brush your teeth in the morning.

A baseline breath sample will be collected. You will then be given a preparation containing lactose/fructose or sorbitol, depending on the type of test being performed. Breath samples will be collected every 25 minutes until the three hours are completed.

It is important that you follow these instructions for the correct collection of the sample:

Sample collection

• Wash your hands before and after collection.
• Wash the genital area with soap and water and dry it thoroughly.
• Use a sterile container with an airtight lid (you can collect one from the laboratory or buy one at a pharmacy).
• Whenever possible, collect the first urine of the morning.
• Discard the first stream of urine and collect the rest in the container.
• Close the container properly and bring the sample to the laboratory as soon as possible (preferably within 2 hours). If this is not possible, keep it refrigerated.
  
  Important: if the sample is for a urine culture, it is recommended that you have not taken antibiotics during the previous 7 days, unless otherwise indicated by your doctor.

It is important that you follow these instructions for the correct collection of the sample:

Sample collection

This sample corresponds to all urine collected over 24 hours (day and night).

• Use specific containers. (You can collect them from the laboratory or buy them at a pharmacy).
• The first urine of the morning is not collected.
• From that moment on, you must collect all urine passed during the day and night.
• The first urine of the following morning must also be included.

The sample must be kept refrigerated throughout the collection period.

It must be delivered to the laboratory as soon as possible.

Sample collection

• Use a sterile wide-mouth container with an airtight lid (you can collect one from the laboratory or buy one at a pharmacy).
• Avoid contact between the sample and urine or toilet water.
• Collect an amount approximately the size of a walnut.
• Close the container properly and bring the sample to the laboratory as soon as possible.

Note: ideally, bring the sample to the laboratory as soon as possible. If this is not possible, store it according to the instructions provided.

Before collection

• Exceptionally, for this test it is necessary to book an appointment in advance and resolve any possible doubts.
• Maintain 3 to 5 days of sexual abstinence.
• Do not apply ointments or wash the penis during the 8 hours prior to collection.
• You must not have had fever or illness in the days prior to the test.

Sample collection

• The sample must be collected by masturbation in a sterile container. (You can collect one from the laboratory or buy one at a pharmacy)
• The collected sample must be COMPLETE (collection of the total semen volume).

Storage and transport

• The sample must be delivered within 1 hour.
• It must be kept at body temperature. It is recommended to wrap the container to avoid sudden temperature changes.
• Write down the time of sample collection.