A strategy to enhance detection of Corynebacterium in pus from human non-puerperal mastitis via pre-culture and extended incubation

This study aimed to optimize the detection method for Corynebacterium in pus from patients with non-puerperal mastitis (NPM) to enhance diagnostic accuracy and provide guidance for clinical treatment. A total of 216 pus samples from NPM patients were retrospectively included and randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group, with 108 cases in each group. The control group was subjected to the traditional direct plate culture method, while the experimental group was treated with an improved method involving pre-cultivation in blood culture bottles followed by extended incubation for up to 5 days. The results showed that the improved method significantly increased the overall detection rate of Corynebacterium from 36.1 % (39/108) to 60.2 % (65/108), with the difference between the groups being statistically significant (χ² = 12.5, P < 0.001, 95 % CI: 11.0-37.1, Cramér's V = 0.24). These findings indicate that optimizing culture conditions and extending incubation time can effectively enhance the detection sensitivity of Corynebacterium in NPM pus. The proposed method demonstrates good clinical applicability and can provide laboratory support for the etiological diagnosis and subsequent individualized treatment of NPM.