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Urinalysis: dipstick analysis
Overview
- Changes in chemical and physical characteristics of urine can occur with many disease processes, including urinary tract disease, hepatic disease, hematological disorders, endocrinopathies, neoplasia and musculoskeletal disorders.
- Canges seen in the urine can therefore be a useful indicator for disease.
- Urinary screening of patients is a worthwhile, informative and inexpensive test in practice.
- Complete urinalysis should include sediment examination Urinalysis: centrifuged deposit and urine specific gravity reading.
Uses
Alone
- Provides valuable information regarding urinary tract function as well as other organs and body systems.
- Provides information on presence of leukocytes, nitrites, urobilinogen, protein, blood, ketones, bilirubin and glucose in the urine.
- The value of pH and urine specific gravity is also indicated.
In combination
- Urinary dipstick analysis, along with urine specific gravity refractometry and urine sediment analysis provides a good starting point for most diagnostic work-ups.
Other points
- Refractometer method is always preferable for measuring urine specific gravity, as the dipstick method lacks accuracy.
Sampling
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Tests
Methodologies
- Determine specific gravity by refractometer.
Dipstick specific gravity does not correlate well with refractometry.
- Methods for applying urine to dipstick:
- EITHER: Rapid, complete immersion of the dipstick into the urine with immediate shaking off of excess urine. The dipstick should be held level to avoid run-off between pads.
- OR: A 1 ml syringe can be used to apply droplets of urine to each individual pad while on a flat surface. Excess is shaken off and the dipstick held in a horizontal plane. This will prevent any contamination and color run from neighboring pads.
- The diagnostic pads on the dipstick should be checked for color against the reference range at the correct time interval.
Availability
- Readily and inexpensively performed in-house.
- All external laboratories.
Technique intrinsic limitations
- Urine specific gravity reading is unreliable.
Technician extrinsic limitations
- Interpretation of results is dependent on the technicians determination of color change.
- Care should be taken to avoid blotting between pads, which may distort the color and deem results inaccurate.
- Following the same approach for every analysis results in consistent findings and allows the technician to develop experience.
- Results should be read at the advised time intervals, alterations in this leads to inaccuracies.
Result Data
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Garibaldi B A et al (1987) Hematuria in rabbits. Lab Anim Sci 37 (6), 769-772.
Other sources of information
- Carpenter J W (2012) Exotic Animal Formulary. 4th edn. Elsevier, Saunders, USA.
- Meredith A & Flecknell P (2006) BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine and Surgery. 2nd edn. BSAVA, UK. pp 49-50.