urinalysis: WBCs, RBCs, urobilinogen, EU

[GingerSue]

this is a question about urinalysis

one source says that WBCs are between 0 - 5 hpf

but another source says that abnormal is 2 or more.

So, would a result of 0 - 2 hpf be considered normal or abnormal?

My source says that RBCs are normal 0 - 4 hpf

My manual gives a hypothetical result as "moderate"

What level of RBCs is considered low, moderate, or high - or is it indicated numerically?

My book gives urobilinogen results - normal: 0.5 - 4 EU/day (same as SI units) for 24 hr, or 1 EU for random.

My manual eg. is in umol/L

What is EU? My acronym finder lists possibilities: equivalent units (there is also elite unit, energy utilization)

How does umol/L translate into EU?

Is 3.2 umol/L normal or abnormal?

[RANCH GIRL]

Here are the "normal" results that my reference gives:

Reference Value: Color - yellow to amber

Clarity - clear to slightly hazy

Specific gravity - majority of random specimens fall between 1.015 and 1.025. Any random specimen with specific gravity of 1.023 or higher is generally considered normal

pH - First morning urine = 5.0 to 6.0 normal random samples = 4.5 to 8.0

Protein - less than 10 mg/dL

Glucose - 100 mg/dL

Blood - negative

Ketone - 1.5 mg/dL

Nitrate - negative

Bilirubin - negative

Urobilinogen - Female = 0.1 to 1.1 Ehrlich Units, Male = 0.3 to 2.1 Ehrlich Units

Leukocytes - 0 to trace

WBC - 0-5/Hpf

RBC - 0-2/Hpf

Hyaline cast - 0-2/Lpf

Presence of RBC cast, WBC cast, waxy cast is considered abnormal.

[GingerSue]

Here are the "normal" results that my reference gives:

Urobilinogen - Female = 0.1 to 1.1 Ehrlich Units, Male = 0.3 to 2.1 Ehrlich Units

thanks

so, would umol/L be the same as EU?

in the eg of 3.2 that seems high (if umol/L is the same as EU, and if it is a random test) and that would indicate maybe liver damage, liver disease, hemolytic disease, or obstruction of the bile duct

(if it was 24 hr, then 0.5 - 4 is normal, according to my book)

[nurse-to-be1000]

RANCH GIRL said:

Here are the "normal" results that my reference gives:

Reference Value: Color - yellow to amber

Clarity - clear to slightly hazy

Specific gravity - majority of random specimens fall between 1.015 and 1.025. Any random specimen with specific gravity of 1.023 or higher is generally considered normal

pH - First morning urine = 5.0 to 6.0 normal random samples = 4.5 to 8.0

Protein - less than 10 mg/dL

Glucose - 100 mg/dL

Blood - negative

Ketone - 1.5 mg/dL

Nitrate - negative

Bilirubin - negative

Urobilinogen - Female = 0.1 to 1.1 Ehrlich Units, Male = 0.3 to 2.1 Ehrlich Units

Leukocytes - 0 to trace

WBC - 0-5/Hpf

RBC - 0-2/Hpf

Hyaline cast - 0-2/Lpf

Presence of RBC cast, WBC cast, waxy cast is considered abnormal.

Can anyone explain to me how you can have RBC in the urine but have the test for blood come up negative? Seems sort of contradictory to me but I am probably misisng something here. Also, how concerned would you be if the lab says the normal RBC is 0-2 and you have a patient who shows up with a 3? I know different labs have different ranges which I still can't understand since I would think lab tests would be standardized. Like the post before this one gave a range of 0-4 HPF while the original post lists the RBC range as 0-2/Hpf. Do you just have to go by what the lab says is the normal range and work from there? Ie you can't compare a urinalysis done at hospital x with another urinalysis done at hospital y?

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

Can anyone explain to me how you can have RBC in the urine but have the test for blood come up negative? Seems sort of contradictory to me but I am probably misisng something here. Also, how concerned would you be if the lab says the normal RBC is 0-2 and you have a patient who shows up with a 3? I know different labs have different ranges which I still can't understand since I would think lab tests would be standardized. Like the post before this one gave a range of 0-4 HPF while the original post lists the RBC range as 0-2/Hpf. Do you just have to go by what the lab says is the normal range and work from there? Ie you can't compare a urinalysis done at hospital x with another urinalysis done at hospital y?

Females can have blood in urine left over from a period, patient could have had trauma to a kidney, it's basically used as a cut off as being contaminated unless there are any more symptoms that would cause the bleeding (UTI, Kidney stones).

If the value is higher than the range it's usually retested and they will change the test. So if the original was a u/a, then the nest will be a clean catch, or straight cath to prevent contamination.

Every place has it's own cutoffs for lab results. One facility could have 0-6 and the next one is 0-2. This goes for every lab result not just u/a. If or when you go to clinicals at different facilities check the ranges for the tests and you'll see they are different but it's usually not by much.