The Clinical Use of Routine Urinalysis

ABSTRACT

Routine urinalysis is a simple, economical, and useful test that facilitates the detection of urinary system diseases and monitoring of renal disease progression. It consists of 4 parts of specimen evaluation, gross examination, a dipstick urinalysis, and a sediment microscopic urinalysis. Urine specimens should first be evaluated in terms of acceptability, and thereafter, the gross appearance is examined for color, turbidity, and odor. In particular, a dipstick urinalysis is an easy and rapid test that provides information on the multiple physicochemical properties of the urine sample. Moreover, although a sediment microscopic urinalysis is time-consuming, it provides information on the cells, microorganisms, casts, and crystals. In the present report, the clinical significance of the routine urinalysis and the problems concerning interpretation are summarized.