Effect of urinary ph and specific gravity in urolithiasis

ABSTRACT

This retrospective descriptive study was conducted to explore the role of urine pH and specific gravity in the formation of urinary stones among ultrasonographically proven urolithiaisis patients who reported to the Department of Surgery and Urology of Gulf Medical College Hospital and Research Centre [GMCHRC], Ajman, United Arab Emirates [UAE]. Patient's age, gender, anatomical sites of the stone and biochemical parameters were obtained from case records. One way Analysis of Variance [ANOVA] was used to find whether the mean specific gravity and pH changed according to anatomical sites of stone and different seasons. The analysis of variance showed that there is no statistically significant difference in urine pH between patients with stones in different anatomical sites. On comparing specific gravity of urine samples between patients with stones in different anatomical sites, a statistically significant difference [p<0.05] was observed. Duncan's multiple range test showed mean significant difference in the ranges of pH and specific gravity among patients with stone in urinary bladder compared to all other sites with a decrease in the pH and increase in the specific gravity [p<0.05]. On testing the correlation between pH and specific gravity using Pearson correlation, a statistically significant [p<0.001] negative correlation of-0.3 was obtained. The study identifies an association between pH and specific gravity in urinary stone formers