Hematuria resident survival guide
Hematuria Resident Survival Guide |
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Overview |
Causes |
Diagnosis |
Treatment |
Do's |
Don'ts |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1];Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Tayyaba Ali, M.D.[2]
Overview
Presence of >5 red blood cells (RBCs) per high-power microscopic field in the urine is called hematuria. It can have either benign or malignant etiology. Patients with hematuria could be asymptomatic. Therefore, all patients presenting with a single episode of haematuria require urgent investigation. Microscopic hematuria, or microhematuria (MH), is defined as the presence of RBC on microscopic examination of the urine not evident on visual inspection of the urine. The prevalence of MH among healthy participants in screening studies is 6.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.4 to 12.2), with higher rates in studies with a predominance of males, older patients, and smokers.
Causes
Life Threatening Causes
Life-threatening causes include conditions that may result in death or permanent disability within 24 hours if left untreated.
Common Causes
Age <50 years[1] | Age >50 years[1] |
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Diagnosis
The approach to diagnosis of hematuria is based on a step-wise testing strategy. Below is an algorithm summarising the identification and laboratory diagnosis of hematuria.
Seek proper history: ❑ Onset ❑ Progression ❑ Pain/burning on urination ❑ Fever ❑ Abdominal pain/flank pain ❑ Polyuria, frequency ❑ Straining during urination ❑ Nocturia ❑ Weak stream ❑ Dribbling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Examine the patient: ❑ Tachypnea ❑ Cold and clammy skin ❑ Hypotension ❑ HEENT signs:
❑ skin exam:
❑ Musculoskeletal exam:
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Initial workup for hematuria: ❑ Complete blood count (CBC) with differential ❑ Urinalysis, urine strain, and culture ❑ Blood urea nitrogen:creatinine (BUN:Cr) ❑ Ultrasound (U/S) and CT abdomen ❑ Cystoscopy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Urine dipstick positive for heme:
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Hematuria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Is acute onset unilateral flank pain present? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yes
| No ❑ Symptoms of urinary tract infection ❑ Urine WBCs ❑ Positive urine nitrite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Treatment
The management of hematuria will depend on the underlying cause. Click on each disease shown below to see detail management for every cause of hematuria.
Initial hematuria: (Blood at beginning of micturition with subsequent clearing) | Terminal hematuria: (Blood seen at end of micturition after initial voiding of clear urine) | Total hematuria: (Blood visible throughout micturition) |
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❑ Urethritis ❑ Trauma (e.g, catheterization) |
❑ Urothelial cancer ❑ Cystitis (Infectious/post radiation) ❑ Urotheliasis ❑ Benign prostatic hypertrophy ❑ Prostate cancer |
❑ Renal mass (benign/malignant)' ❑ Glomerulonephritis ❑ Urolithiasis ❑ Polycystic kidney disease ❑ Pyelonephritis ❑ ' ❑ Urothelial cancer ❑ Trauma |
Do's
- The content in this section is in bullet points.
Don'ts
- The content in this section is in bullet points.