What is this test?

Semen culture and sensitivity is a technique predominantly used to test the sensitivity of aerobic bacteria, which can infect testicles in men and can cause infertility. This test is done on males to find out whether the testicles are infected by a bacteria or not and to find the cause for infertility and epididymitis inflammation of the epididymis which is a tube located at the back of testicles that stores and carries sperm.

What is Semen?

Semen is the male reproductive fluid that contains spermatozoa. It is also known as seminal fluid. It can fertilize the female ova.

What are Bacteria, Aerobic Bacteria, and their types?

Bacteria are the single-celled micro-organisms that can live within the soil, in the ocean, and also inside the human gut. They have a number of shapes such as spirals, rods, and spheres, etc. Some bacteria can cause illness to the human body and some other plays a major role in the overall functioning of our ecosystem.

Aerobic bacteria are bacteria that can survive in the presence of oxygen only. In the absence of oxygen, aerobic bacteria cannot survive and can die. Some of the aerobic bacteria are Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Nocardia, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis etc.

Why this test is performed?

This test is performed to check if an individual's testicles are infected by anaerobic bacteria or not. This test may be recommended to you by a physician if you experience symptoms such as painful ejaculation, hemospermia (presence of blood in the semen), increase in urinary frequency, the urgency to urinate, pain while urinating, redness and swelling in the testicles, change in the color of discharge, foul odor of discharge, etc. This test is also performed on you if you recently had a vasectomy to check whether the operation was successful or not. This is also done as a part of the infertility testing.

This test also helps the doctors to plan the treatment according to the type of bacteria, that infects the testicles and epididymis. The test is also performed to check the effectiveness of the treatment.

Test Preparation

Inform your doctor if you are on any medications, have any allergies or underlying medical conditions before your Culture and Sensitivity Semen. Your doctor will give specific instructions depending on your condition on how to prepare for Culture and Sensitivity Semen.
No specific preparation is necessary for this test.

Understanding your test results

The test results may vary depending on age, health history, medical condition, etc.
If your test results are negative, then it may indicate that there are no signs of growth of aerobic bacteria.
If your test results are positive, then it may indicate there is a chance for the growth of aerobic bacteria, which means that the testicles or epididymis have been infected by anaerobic bacteria.
If abnormal test results were seen, consult your doctor immediately with your lab test reports.