URINE TESTS

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Urine Tests are very common tests that can be performed in many healthcare settings including doctors' offices, urgent care facilities, laboratories, and hospitals.

It is performed by collecting a urine sample from the patient in a specimen cup. Usually only small amounts (30-60 ml's) may be required for urinalysis testing. The sample can be either analyzed in the medical clinic or sent to a laboratory to perform the tests. Urinalysis is abbreviated UA.

Urine can be evaluated by its physical appearance (color, cloudiness, odor, clarity), or macroscopic analysis. It can be also analyzed based on its chemical and molecular properties or microscopic assessment.

Urinalysis is ordered by doctors for a number of reasons, as follows:
·Routine medical evaluation: general yearly screening, assessment before surgery (pre-operative assessment), admission to hospital, screening for kidney disorder, diabetes mellitus, hypertension (high blood pressure), liver disorder, etc.  
·Assessing particular symptoms: abdominal pain, painful urination, flank pain, fever, blood in the urine, or other urinary symptoms.  
·Diagnosing medical conditions: urinary tract infection, kidney infection, kidney stones, uncontrolled diabetes (high blood sugars), kidney impairment, muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), protein in urine, kidney inflammation (glomerulonephritis).  
·Monitoring disorder progression and response to therapy: diabetes related kidney disorder, kidney impairment, lupus related kidney disorder, blood pressure related kidney disorder, kidney infection, protein in urine, blood in urine.  

Test results
Urinalysis can disclose evidence of disorders, even some that have not caused significant signs or symptoms. Therefore, a urinalysis is commonly a part of routine health screening.

Urinalysis is also a very useful test that may be ordered by your physician for particular reasons. Urinalysis is commonly used to diagnose a urinary tract or kidney infection, to evaluate causes of kidney failure, to screen for progression of some chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure (hypertension).

It also may be used in combination with other tests to diagnose some disorders. Examples of this include kidney stones, inflammation of the kidneys (glomerulonephritis), or muscle break breakdown (rhabdomyolysis). Additional tests and clinical assessment are often required to further investigate findings of urinalysis and ultimately diagnose the causes or specific features of underlying problems. For example, urine infection is generally diagnosed based on results of urinalysis. However, urine culture is often ordered as a follow-up test to identify the bacteria that may be causing the infection.

Also you should know
Other than urinalysis commonly performed urine tests are drug tests, pregnancy tests, specific chemicals and proteins in the body, which are not a part of routine urinalysis.
Urine drug screen is done routinely to check for drugs or their byproducts in the urine. There are many purposes for these tests including athletic screening, emergency rooms settings, drug detoxification programs, school and employment screening. This test detects the presence of commonly used drugs such as:
·cocaine,  
·amphetamines,  
·metamphetamines,  
·marijuana,  
·phencyclidine,  
·barbiturates,  
·benzodiazepines, and  
·opiates.  

 
 
 
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All information on this page is intended for your general knowledge only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.