[Using lyophilization to the preparation of drug paper disks for antimicrobial susceptibility test]

It was found that the paper disks used in the antimicrobial susceptibility test could be prepared by natural drying at 37 degrees C, but the drug distribution between these disks is not so enen as determined by antimicrobial inhibitory test, thus it was difficult to fit the needs of the national standards. Alternatively, we applied the lyophilization technique to the disks preparation and 12 batches, of different antibiotic disks were made out and found that the difference between disks is reduced, and all are meet to the national requirement. It is supposed that the capillary action may play a role in the variation of drug distribution in the natural drying process, and the lyophilization process avoided the capillary action, hence the more even distributed antibiotic disks are produced. The preparation of lyophilized disks is a simple and practical method that could be used in the antimicrobial susceptibility tests in hospital.