An Outline of Genito-Urinary Surgery (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III URINALYSIS. TESTS OF RENAL FUNCTION URINALYSIS In nine-tenths of all genito-urinary cases the condition of the urine gives to the careful observer information of great value. In obtaining a specimen for the ordinary examination it is enough in the male simply to have the foreskin retracted, so that the urine is not contaminated by subpreputial detritus. In the female, however, a catheter specimen must be obtained; unless this is done, one cannot be sure that the abnormal cells which may be found are not from the vagina. I do not remember having seen bladder infection result from this procedure. One should always observe the precaution of filling the bladder with an antiseptic after catheterization. The general characteristics of the urine, which should be examined soon after it is passed, must be noted. These are: Odor ammoniacal or not? Color pale or concentrated; bloody or smoky? Opacity clear and sparkling; hazy; turbid? Contents shreds; clots; bits of tissue? Reaction to litmus paper? Specific gravity? Presence of albumin; sugar? Sediment (microscopic examination)? Albumin. If the urine when passed is hazy, a few drops of acetic acid may be added to a small portion. If the opacity disappears, it is due to phosphates. The urine thus cleared is tested for albumin by nearly filling a test-tube with it, and boiling for a few seconds the urine near the top of the tube. By holding the tube against a dark background even a very slight cloud can be detected. If this cloud does not clear upon the addition of a few drops of acetic acid it is due to albumin. If a heavy cloud is present, or if the urine is cloudy with some substance other than phosphates, the amount of albumin present may be estimated by the nitric acid test (i0 c.c. urine f...