"normal" UA glucose level for diabetic

[Gonzalez10]

I work in a LTC facility and had a patient with a UA result of >500mg/dl. im a new nurse so i checked with 3 fellow nurses and all of them agreed that the patient is diabetic so this is "normal". they said to fax Dr. current MAR and UA results. Now im worried i really should have called the Dr. instead?? Im not familiar with diabetic UA's and can't seem to find any sources online. Is this an urgent urine glucose for a diabetic??

[ksrn20]

I'm not exactly sure but I believe in a known diabetic the ketones in the urine are more important to pay attention to over the glucose in the UA.

[Joey_Boy, LPN]

Your co-workers are wrong on this one. The normal is UA for a diabetic should be Negative. Their shouldn't be glucose in the urine unless the blood sugar is above 180 (Glycosuria). What was his blood sugar? That's what I would be worried about, imho.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Yup, do a blood sugar at the same time, call doc with results. The exception would be if this were common for THIS patient.

Your co-workers are wrong on this one. The normal is UA for a diabetic should be Negative. Their shouldn't be glucose in the urine unless the blood sugar is above 180 (Glycosuria). What was his blood sugar? That's what I would be worried about, imho.

[Gonzalez10]

patient has routine accu checks. blood sugar was in the high 200's at last check which is usual for this patient, coverage was given.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Your co-workers are wrong on this one. The normal is UA for a diabetic should be Negative. Their shouldn't be glucose in the urine unless the blood sugar is above 180 (Glycosuria). What was his blood sugar? That's what I would be worried about, imho.

Agree. You expect glucose in the urine for an untreated diabetic and this is often how new diabetics are diagnosed but think about why you see this. Glucose in the urine is the body's attempt to bring down the glucose level- with good glucose control, diabetics shouldn't be spilling glucose in their urine.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Normal UA for a diabetic should be "Negative" as long as their blood sugar levels are under control. However, if the kidneys have sustained physical damage, say to the tubules, they may be allowing a LOT more glucose to spill into the urine than they would otherwise. If that were the case, I'd also expect to see other signs of kidney damage too. If kidney function is normal, I wouldn't expect that the glucose level in the urine would exceed the usual blood concentration. Then again, you could be seeing evidence of a massive glucose spike that spills over into the urine then insulin catches up, bringing the blood glucose down below 300. Glucose should still spill into the urine until the blood level falls below 180.

That, of course, would be if things are normal...

Though it's possible for such readings to be normal for a specific patient... but I'm not buying it, if the patient is actually generally healthy aside from the diabetes.