Exam Overview
Helicobacter pylori tests are used to detect a Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in the tummy and upper part of the small intestine ( duodenum ). H. pylori can cause peptic ulcers . But most people with H. pylori in their digestive systems practise not develop ulcers.
4 tests are used to notice H. pylori:
- Blood antibody exam. A claret exam checks to see whether your body has made antibodies to H. pylori bacteria. If you have antibodies to H. pylori in your blood, it means you either are currently infected or have been infected in the past.
- Urea breath test. A urea jiff test checks to run across if y'all accept H. pylori leaner in your tummy. This test tin can show if you accept an H. pylori infection. It can also be used to run across if treatment has worked to get rid of H. pylori.
- Stool antigen test. A stool antigen test checks to see if substances that trigger the immune organisation to fight an H. pylori infection (H. pylori antigens ) are nowadays in your feces (stool). Stool antigen testing may exist done to help support a diagnosis of H. pylori infection or to find out whether treatment for an H. pylori infection has been successful.
- Tum biopsy. A minor sample (biopsy) is taken from the lining of your tummy and small intestine during an endoscopy . Several different tests may exist done on the biopsy sample. To acquire more, see the topic Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Why It Is Done
A Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) test is done to:
- Notice out whether an infection with H. pylori leaner may be causing an ulcer or irritation of the breadbasket lining ( gastritis ).
- Find out whether treatment for an H. pylori infection has been successful.
How To Prepare
Blood antibody test
You practise not need to practice anything before you have a claret antibody examination.
Stool antigen examination
Medicines may alter the results of this test. Be sure to tell your physician most all the prescription and nonprescription medicines you take. Your doctor may recommend that you finish taking some of your medicines.
- Practice non take antibiotics or medicines containing bismuth (such as Pepto-Bismol) for 1 calendar month earlier the test.
- Practise non take proton pump inhibitors (such as Nexium or Prilosec) for 2 weeks before the test.
Stomach biopsy or urea breath test
You volition be asked to not eat or drink annihilation for a sure amount of fourth dimension earlier having a jiff test or a stomach biopsy. Follow your physician'due south instructions about how long you need to avoid eating and drinking before the test.
Many medicines may change the results of this exam. Be sure to tell your doctor well-nigh all the prescription and nonprescription medicines you accept. Your doctor may recommend that y'all stop taking some of your medicines.
- Practice not take antibiotics or medicines containing bismuth (such every bit Pepto-Bismol) for 1 month before the test.
- Do non take proton pump inhibitors for 2 weeks earlier the exam.
- Do not have H2 blockers, such equally Pepcid or Tagamet, for 24 hours before the test.
Talk to your doctor about any concerns you lot accept nearly the need for the examination, its risks, how it will be washed, or what the results may mean. To help you understand the importance of this examination, fill out the medical exam information class .
How Information technology Is Done
Blood antibody test
The health professional taking a sample of your blood will:
- Wrap an elastic band effectually your upper arm to stop the flow of blood. This makes the veins below the band larger then information technology is easier to put a needle into the vein.
- Clean the needle site with alcohol.
- Put the needle into the vein. More than ane needle stick may be needed.
- Attach a tube to the needle to fill it with blood.
- Remove the band from your arm when enough blood is collected.
- Put a gauze pad or cotton ball over the needle site as the needle is removed.
- Put pressure level on the site and then put on a bandage.
Urea breath test
The jiff sample is collected when you blow into a balloon or blow bubbling into a bottle of liquid. The health professional person taking a sample of your jiff will:
- Collect a sample of your breath earlier the test starts.
- Give you a sheathing or some water to consume that contains tagged or radioactive material.
- Collect samples of your breath at different times. The breath samples will exist tested to see if they contain textile formed when H. pylori comes into contact with the tagged or radioactive material.
- The urea jiff test normally takes about 30 minutes.
Stool antigen examination
The stool sample for this test may be collected at dwelling. If you are in the hospital, a health professional will help yous collect the sample.
To collect the sample, you need to:
- Laissez passer stool into a dry container. Either solid or liquid stools tin be nerveless. Be careful non to get urine or toilet tissue in with the stool sample.
- Replace the container cap and characterization the container with your name, your doctor's proper noun, and the date the sample was collected.
- Wash your easily well afterwards collecting the sample to avoid spreading bacteria.
- Evangelize the sealed container as soon as possible to your doctor'due south office or directly to the lab.
Your dr. may besides use a cotton fiber swab inserted into your rectum to collect a stool sample during an exam.
Breadbasket biopsy
- Endoscopy is used to collect samples of tissue from the stomach and duodenum. The doctor may collect upward to 10 tissue samples. To acquire more than, encounter the topic Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
- The tissue samples are tested in the lab to run into if they contain H. pylori.
- In rare cases, a biopsy sample may be placed in a container with a substance that promotes the growth of H. pylori leaner. This is called an H. pylori culture. If no leaner grow, the culture is negative. If H. pylori leaner abound, the culture is positive. Sometimes other tests are done to find the right medicine for treating the infection. This is called sensitivity testing.
How It Feels
Blood antibody test
The blood sample is taken from a vein in your arm. An elastic band is wrapped effectually your upper arm. It may feel tight. You may feel cipher at all from the needle, or yous may feel a quick sting or pinch.
Urea breath test
A urea breath test does not normally cause discomfort.
Stool antigen exam
Collecting a stool sample ordinarily does non cause any discomfort.
If your md collects the sample during a rectal exam, yous may experience some pressure level or discomfort as the cotton swab is inserted into your rectum.
Stomach biopsy
You may notice a brief, sharp pain when the intravenous (IV) needle is placed in a vein in your arm. The local anesthetic sprayed into your throat usually tastes slightly bitter and will make your tongue and throat experience numb and swollen. Some people study that they feel as if they cannot breathe at times because of the tube in their pharynx, just this is a false sensation caused past the anesthetic. In that location is always enough of breathing space around the tube in your mouth and throat. Think to relax and take slow, deep breaths.
Yous may experience some gagging, nausea, bloating, or balmy abdominal cramping as the tube is moved. Even though y'all won't be able to talk during the procedure because yous have a tube in your throat, you can still communicate. If the discomfort is severe, alert your doctor with an agreed-upon signal or a tap on the arm.
The Iv medicines will make you feel sleepy. Other side effects—such as heavy eyelids, difficulty speaking, a dry mouth, or blurred vision—may last for several hours after the test. The medicines may likewise cause y'all not to call back much of what happens during the examination.
Risks
Blood antibody test
There is very fiddling chance of a problem from having a blood sample taken from a vein.
- You may get a small bruise at the site. You tin can lower the chance of bruising by keeping force per unit area on the site for several minutes.
- In rare cases, the vein may get swollen after the blood sample is taken. This problem is called phlebitis. A warm compress tin can be used several times a day to treat this.
Urea breath test
There are no known risks or complications with a urea breath test. If radioactive carbon is used, the amount of radioactivity exposure is extremely small—less than you commonly get from being outside during the 24-hour interval.
Stool antigen test
In that location are no risks or complications with a stool sample. Just if you do not launder your hands well afterwards collecting the sample, you may spread germs.
Tummy biopsy
There is a slight take chances (i in 10,000) of puncturing the wall of the esophagus , stomach, or duodenum during an endoscopy to collect tum biopsy samples. The biopsy may too cause some bleeding at the site where the samples are collected. Merely the bleeding ordinarily stops without treatment. To learn more, see the topic Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Results
Helicobacter pylori tests are used to detect a Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) infection in the stomach and upper part of the small intestine (duodenum).
Results from the urea breath test or a stool antigen test are usually available inside a few hours. Results from a claret antibiotic test are usually available within 24 hours. Results from biopsy samples obtained by endoscopy are ordinarily available within 48 hours. Results from a biopsy sample that is cultured can accept up to 10 days.
Blood antibody test | Normal: | The blood sample does not incorporate H. pylori antibodies. |
| Abnormal: | The blood sample contains H. pylori antibodies. |
Urea jiff test | Normal: | The breath sample does not comprise the tagged carbon dioxide. |
| Aberrant: | The breath sample contains the tagged carbon dioxide. |
Stool antigen test | Normal: | The stool sample does not contain H. pylori antigens. |
| Abnormal: | The stool sample contains H. pylori antigens. |
Stomach biopsy | Normal: | The biopsy sample does not comprise H. pylori bacteria. H. pylori leaner does not grow in a culture of the tissue biopsy samples. |
| Abnormal: | The biopsy sample contains H. pylori bacteria. H. pylori bacteria grows in a culture of the tissue biopsy samples. |
What Affects the Test
Reasons y'all may not be able to have the exam or why the results may not be helpful include the following:
- Most urea jiff tests now use tagged carbon rather than radioactive carbon. If you lot are meaning, the radioactive urea breath test for H. pylori is non normally done, because the radiations could damage your child.
- Use of antibiotics may affect the results of the urea breath exam, the stool antigen test, and stomach biopsy past reducing the number of H. pylori leaner in the stomach and duodenum .
- The use of cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), rabeprazole (Aciphex), sucralfate (Carafate), or medicines containing bismuth (such every bit Pepto-Bismol) can also interfere with the results of the urea breath exam, the stool antigen exam, and tummy biopsy.
- A tum biopsy may not find an H. pylori infection that is present if the biopsy samples are taken from areas that are not infected by the H. pylori bacteria.
- Crude handling, contamination, or inadequate refrigeration of the blood sample can cause inaccurate blood antibody test results.
- When a blood antibody test is done early in an H. pylori infection, the results may be falsely negative because the level of antibodies is likewise low to measure.
- The likelihood of infection with H. pylori increases with age. Older adults are more probable to accept detectable amounts of the bacteria in their trunk.
What To Think Most
- Nigh urea breath tests now use tagged carbon rather than radioactive carbon. If you are significant, the radioactive urea breath exam for H. pylori is not normally done, because the radiations could impairment your child.
- The stool antigen test is the least expensive of the four tests for Helicobacter pylori, just it may not be equally accurate as the other tests. The stomach biopsy is very accurate, but it is the most expensive and most risky of the 4 tests.
- A negative stool antigen test does not ever mean that an H. pylori infection is not present ( fake-negative ).
- Although many people are infected with H. pylori leaner, only a few of them will develop peptic ulcer disease. For this reason, other factors (such as a person'due south symptoms) should be considered when interpreting the results of an H. pylori exam.
- Blood tests for H. pylori may be positive for several years after the infection, so the urea jiff test, the stool antigen test, or a biopsy may be used to find out if treatment has been constructive.
- If your symptoms don't go abroad, an endoscopy may be needed. To learn more, see the topic Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
- Having an infection with H. pylori increases your chances of having cancer of the stomach. But the risk is very low.
- For some people who have taken medicine to treat a Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) infection, a follow-upwards test may exist needed to make sure the infection is cured. The American College of Gastroenterology recommends a follow-upward test to bank check for H. pylori infection whenever: footnote 1
- A peptic ulcer is caused by H. pylori infection.
- Stomach (gastric) mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is caused by H. pylori infection.
- Upset stomach (dyspepsia) symptoms are present even subsequently H. pylori infection was tested for and treated.
- Resection of early stomach (gastric) cancer has been washed.
References
Citations
- Chey WD, et al. (2007). American College of Gastroenterology guideline of the management of Helicobacter pylori infection. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 102(viii): 1808–1825.
Other Works Consulted
- Chernecky CC, Berger BJ (2013). Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures, 6th ed. St. Louis: Saunders.
- Fischbach FT, Dunning MB III, eds. (2009). Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
- Pagana KD, Pagana TJ (2010). Mosby'southward Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests, 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.
Credits
Electric current equally of: Apr xv, 2020
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
E. Gregory Thompson Doctor - Internal Medicine
Adam Husney MD - Family unit Medicine
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