antibiotic sensitivity test, a laboratory method for determining the susceptibility of organisms to therapy with antibiotics. After the infecting organism has been recovered from a clinical specimen, it is cultured and tested against a panel of antibiotic drugs (the specific panel is determined by whether the organism is gram-positive and gram-negative). If the growth of the organism is inhibited by the action of the drug, it is reported as sensitive to that antibiotic. If the organism is not susceptible to the antibiotic, it is reported as resistant to that drug. See also sensitivity test.
