Exercises How Are Urinalysis, Blood

Exercises

How are urinalysis, blood urea nitrogen, and serum creatinine values used to assess kidney function?

Urinalysis, blood urea nitrogen, and serum creatinine values are all important in the assessment of to assess kidney functions.

Urinalysis is noted by the National Kidney Foundation (2002) to be a simple, safe and noninvasive study of urine that requires urination only on the part of the given human subject. The process has no risk, no adverse responses and more importantly, no direct side effects. It is one of the mostly ordered clinical procedures/tests in pediatrics (Patel,2006).Urinalysis is used in the assessment of kidney problems by the physical, microscopic and chemical examination of urine (McPherson, Ben-Ezra, Zhao,2006). The test is performed by the examination of the physical color as well as appearance of urine (yellow, cloudy) as well as urine's specific gravity. The microscopic appearance of the urine is also performed in order to identify urine crystals, cells, mucous and any other substances whose presence signifies the presence of abnormal kidney functions. The chemical appearance of the urine is also determined in order to ascertain the existence of various substances in the human urine.

The blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test on the other hand is the measure if the level of blood nitrogen in the form of urea. It is a critical measure of renal function. Urea is a major by-product of protein metabolism which is removed by the human kidney. The normal adult's blood contains between 7-21mg of urea per a hundred milliliters of blood (Deepak et al.,2007) a high/increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN) signifies an impaired kidney function.

In regard to the serum creatinine values, Banfi and Del Fabrro (2006) noted that the concentration of creatinine in the human blood is the most widely employed method and the commonly accepted one for measuring renal function in the context of clinical medicine. Any disorder in the renal function leads to a reduction in the level of secreted creatinine. The result is an increase in the level of blood creatinine levels. The levels of serum creatinine provide an approximation of a person's kidney glomerular filtration rate. Increase levels of serum creatinine indicate an impaired renal function.

How are the locations of renal pain and findings on urinalysis used to differentiate the causes of kidney disease?

The locations of renal pain and findings on urinalysis are useful in the differentiation of the causes of kidney disease.This is because renal pains are often experienced at the lower abdominal area and at the lower back of the sufferer. The back pain could be due to a muscular pain or any other ailments. It is therefore necessary for a detailed urinalysis to be used to confirm the presence of kidney problems (such as kidney stones).

How do prerenal, intrarenal, and postrenal types of acute renal failure differ in etiology, prognosis, clinical manifestations, and management?

Prerenal acute renal failure is due to the conditions that effectively impairs the human renal blood flow (perfusion) like cardiac failure, hypovolemia, hypotension as well as renal obstruction. The condition is characterized by a clinical manifestation of very low GFR levels that usually includes obligua, osmolality as well as high levels of urine specific gravity. Low sodium is also noted to be its manifestation. The signs and symptoms include an overload of the fluid levels. A prolonged case of prerenal failure leads to intrarenal renal failure.It is managed by the prevention or management of the risk factors such as heart failure, chronic renal insufficiency as well as diabetes mellitus.Since medication can lead to kidney injury, special pharmacologic alternatives must be used. There is a need for maintaining an adequate level of intravascular volume as well as the mean arterial presuure. There is also aneed to discontinue all the nephrotoxic drugs as well as the elimination of exposure to any form of nephrotoxins. All forms of electrolyte abnormalities must be properly corrected.Uric acid and pigments can be treated using alkaline dieresis. Alcohol drip and fomepizole should be used for treating methanol or ethyl glycol poisoning.

Postrenal acute renal failure is caused by the obstruction of the urinary collection system which is distal to the kidney.The obstruction is noted to lead to increased pressure in the patient's Bowman's capsule with the resulting impediment of glomerular filtration. Prolonged results ultimately lead to postrenal renal failure. The management of the condition includes the treatment of the various or specific underlying cause (s) such as high blood pressure, trauma or toxins

Intrarenal acute renal failure is caused by the primary dysfunction of the kidney's nephrons, it may however be caused by vascular, glomerular as well as interstitial etiologies.In most cases, the problem occurs within the renal tubules with the result of tubular necrosis. Cases of ATN may occur with ischemic and nephrotoxic insults.The management of the condition includes the treatment of the various or specific underlying cause (s) such as high blood pressure, trauma or toxins. There are also pharmacologic interventions such as gallopamil treatment (Lumlertgul et al.,1991)