Normal BUN and creatinine with renal disease?

[lacyann72]

Is it possible for a pt with a Hx of renal disease to have BUN and creatinine WNL?

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

That's a good question! It brings to mind other questions, such as: Has the patient had dialysis? Do they have acute issues at the present moment?

[lacyann72]

I'm unsure about dialysis, but she never said anything about it. She presented to the ER with kidney stones. I wasn't there when the nurse was doing the admission assessment and saw in her chart where she said she had a history of renal disease. By this time, she was already discharged and I was unable to clarify it at all.

[Castiela]

Was it an acute kidney injury that resolved itself?

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

Is it chronic or acute? In the case of chronic KD you can have a patient with declining GFR without changes to the BUN and Cr until about stage III. In general, nephritic syndromes typically present with greater increases in BUN and Cr than do nephrotic syndromes, etc. There is a lot to consider.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

Is it possible for a pt with a Hx of renal disease to have BUN and creatinine WNL?

That's kind of like asking if a patient with history of pneumonia and respiratory failure can have a normal ABG. The answer is, of course they can... presuming that the acute phase of the disease has resolved.

"Renal disease" is a very broad term and is meaningless without context... starting with "how long ago?"

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

What kind of "renal disease"? That's a very broad term. I have a history of renal tubular acidosis, which never affected my BUN and creatinine.