Hematuria (blood in the urine)

OVERVIEW:

This is the presence of blood in the urine when there is no infection or other cause. It is either “gross hematuria,” meaning the patient saw blood visibly in the toilet, or, “microscopic hematuria,” meaning more than 3 blood cells were seen on microscopic examination when urine was checked through routine blood work.

TREATMENT:

Blood in the urine requires evaluation in order to make sure there are no serious medical or surgical issues.

Workup may involve:

• Blood work to check kidney function
• Imaging: CT scan is usually done to look for kidney stones, tumors in the kidney, or problems in the ureters (tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder).
• Cystoscopy: A minor office procedure in a small lighted, flexible telescope is placed into the bladder under local anesthesia to directly look for problems on the bladder wall, as the bladder cannot be evaluated with any kind of x-ray.
• Cytology: This is a test performed on a urine specimen to look for abnormal or cancerous cells.