Routine urine analysis of gestational women at a tertiary care center in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra

Abstract

Introduction: Apart from short female urethra, the pressure exerted by gravid uterus on genito-urinary tract can serve as harbinger for UTI. Treatment for UTI can start much earlier than positive urine culture reports are derived. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to estimate the routine urinanalysis in gestational women in a tertiary care hospital of Konkan region, Maharashtra. Methodology: All the pregnant patients referred to Clinical Pathology section were studied prospectively from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2021 involving 452 cases. Urine sample was studied for physical properties and urine reagent strip was used for chemical analyses. Post-centrifugation urine-sediments were used for microscopy analysis. All the findings filled in MS-Excel sheet 2010 was analyzed manually.

Results: Maximum patients (77.43%) were in the age group of 20-30 years. Presence of urine deposits was noted in 21.46% cases. Slightly acidic urine pH was seen in 61.72% patients. Majority of pregnant females (94.69%) recorded specific gravity between 1.003-1.030. 40.71%, 8.62% and 7.74% women were having proteinuria, glycosuria and ketonuria respectively. 59.6% cases were having ≥3 pus cells/hpf. 3.31% were having presence of bile pigment. 15% showed presence of casts in urine on microscopy. 10.17% cases showed presence of crystals out of which, 86.95% showed calcium oxalate crystals. The presence of leucocytes was seen only in 17.03% cases. 12.38% cases showed bacteriuria.

Conclusion: Simple routine urine analysis which serves as a ‘first-line’ investigation to diagnose urinary complaint can help in treatment plan for gestational women.