Urinalysis Flashcards
What does anuria mean?
no urine output
What does oliguria mean?
less than 500 mL/day
What does nocturia mean?
greater than 500 mL/night (not to be confused with nocturnal frequency)
What does polyuria mean?
greater than 2L/day (not necessarily abnormal if someone is really hydrating themselves)
How often do children urinate compared to adults?
3-4x the volume of an adult per kg of body weight
What are the 3 descriptors of abnormal urination?
frequency
urgency
dysuria
Is urine odor part of urinalysis?
No
How is urine order normally described?
Faintly aromatic- due to presence of volatile acids
What could caused abnormal urine aroma?
Vitamins Drugs Foods (ex: asparagus) Metabolic disorders (diabetes) Bacterial contamination
What does CCMS stand for?
Clean Catch Midstream Specimen
What is the reason for CCMS
To avoid contamination of the voided specimen by organisms in areas adjacent to the urethral meatus and harbored in the distal urethra
For a urine sample collection are males or females instructed to cleanse the area 3x with separate towelettes?
Females
When is the best time to collect urine? Why?
First morning urination
- most concentrated
- bladder incubated
- best for specific gravity, nitrite, protein, and microscopic examination of the urine sediment
What is the most convenient and commonly used timing of urine collection?
Random specimen
Why would you do a 24hr specimen collection?
This is necessary for quantification of various analytes
- protein, calcium, hormones & their metabolites
When should the urine be analyzed after the collection?
Within one hour
Why should the urinalysis be done within an hour of the collection?
To avoid deterioration of:
- formed elements (casts & WBCs)
- bilirubin & urobilinogen (will decompose when exposed to light)
- glucose (metabolized by bacteria & blood cells)
- ketones (evaporate)
What do you do if you can’t do the urinalysis directly after the collection?
Refrigerate or use a preservative to prevent bacterial overgrowth
When doing an urinalysis, do you document the color and appearance of the urine?
Yes
_____ reagent strip results exceed the quantities which are normally present in urine
Positive
What are the 10 factors that are tested during the chemical examination of a urnialysis?
pH specific gravity protein glucose ketones urobilinogen bilirubin leukocyte esterase nitrite blood (hemoglobin)
What are the 7 factors that are tested during the microscopic examination of a urinalysis?
RBCs WBCs Epithelial cells Crystals Casts Micro-organisms Amorphous sediment
What is considered normal for color of urine?
Colorless to amber yellow
What could cause colorless urine?
- random specimen
- decreased renal function
What could cause dark yellow urine?
- concentrated urine- due to dehydration
- bilirubin- hepatobiliary
What could cause red urine?
- blood- urinary tract bleeding
- hemoglobin- intravascular hemolysis
- food dyes- strawberry twizzler overdose
- beets- healthy diet
What could cause brown urine?
- acid hematin- blood/hgb
- bilirubin- hepatobiliary
What are the 3 words used to describe appearance of urine?
Hazy
Cloudy
Milky
What are the formed element that cause a hazy/cloudy/or milky urine? (8)
Amorphous sediment Epithelial cells RBCs & WBCs Micro-organisms Crystals Spermatozoa WBC casts & WBC clumps Fat (chyluria)
What is a normal urine pH?
4-8
ideally 6
What causes acidic urine?
normal “western” diet
ketosis
systemic acidosis
What causes alkaline urine?
Vegetarian/vegan diet/ high level of citrus fruit
Postprandial specimen (“alkaline tide”)
Stale/unrefrigerated specimen
Urinary tract infection
What is normal for specific gravity of urine?
1.005-1.035
What is specific gravity used to evaluate?
The concentrating and excretory power of the kidneys
How would a true kidney function test be standardized?
Water deprivation for 16 hours prior to test
Why is first morning specimen more ideal than random specimen?
Because first morning specimen will be concentrated, where as random specimens will tend to be more dilute
What could cause the urine to be more concentrated?
- decreased fluid intake
- first morning specimen
- solutes in the urine such as glucose & ketones
What types of protein can show up in urine? (6)
- Albumin
- Globulins
- Hemoglobin
- Fibrinogen
- Nucleoproteins
- Bence Jones protein (paraproteins)
Which type of protein is the most common & significant health concern?
Albumin
If albumin is found in urine, what could this indicate?
Kidney pathology
- especially glomerular damage, results in albumin escaping from the plasma into filtrate
What does functional proteinuria mean?
This is proteinuria associated with fever, exposure to extreme temps, excessive exercise, or emotional stress. Tends to be minimal amounts (less than 500mg/day) of protein lost.
What is organic proteinuria?
Proteinuria associated with demonstrable systemic disease or renal damage & often results in greater than 500mg/day of protein loss.
Is there more protein lost with organic or functional proteinuria?
Organic
What are the 3 categories of proteinuria sites of origin?
- pre-renal
- renal
- post-renal
What are the 3 categories of proteinuria according to quantity lost per day?
- minimal (less than 0.5)
- moderate (0.5- 4.0)
- marked (greater than 4.0 gm)
What are some cause of minimal proteinuria?
- vigorous exercise in healthy people
- severe emotional or thermal stress
- postural/orthostatic proteinuria
- pregnancy
- early affects of kidney dysfunction
- lower UTI
What are some causes of moderate proteinuria?
- chronic glomerulonephritis
- pyelonephritis
- diabetic nephropathy
- multiple myeloma]
- pre-eclampsia
what are some causes of marked proteinuria?
- acute & chronic glomerulonephritis
- diabetic nephropathy
- nephrotic syndrome & nephrosis
- lupus nephritis
What conditions might you suspect when finding glucosuria with hyperglycemia?
- endocrine disorders
- -> diabetes mellitus
- -> cushing’s syndrome
- -> thyrotoxicosis
- exocrine pancreatic disease
- drug associated (steroids)