Q) How do you treat a patient with red urine?
A) First and foremost, it is necessary to determine the cause of bleeding for which a battery of tests may be required. Patient’s urine may be sent for examination and blood may be collected for a few tests (e.g ASO time, serum C₃ , Hb_sAg, urine culture etc) depending upon the clinical features which the patient presents with sometimes, a 24 hour urine sample may be required, where urine passed over 24 hours is collected in a container and tested. Depending upon the cause, an ultrasound of the kidneys and pelvis maybe required.

Some causes of blood in urine (also called Hematuria) are transitory like Acute post infectious glomerulonephritis, renal stones etc which subside after sometime. Other conditions may lead to persistent bleeding, which may not be visible to the naked eye, but can be detected by microscopic examination. Hence, a urine examination may be done every monthly till at least, last 3 samples of urine are normal.

The treatment of blood in urine varies with the cause. In acute post infectious glomerulonephritis, the treatment is the complication bed rest, antihypertensives to lower the B.P and antibiotics. Acute pyelonephritis may require intravenous antibiotics.

Q) What precautions can we follow to ensure good health of our child?
A) A child with acute episode of bleeding may require bed rest till the episode tides over (again depending upon the cause). However, a child with persistent bleeding can usually lead a normal life till complications of the kidney disease do not develop.

Last updated on 6-11-2000