Southern medical journal
-
Southern medical journal · Mar 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialUtility of dipstick urinalysis as a guide to management of adults with suspected infection or hematuria.
This study was done to determine whether emergency department (ED) patient management decisions made on the basis of dipstick urinalysis are altered when results of urine microscopy become available. ⋯ Dipstick urinalysis for blood or UTI is a reliable diagnostic test in ED patients. In 94% of patients, subsequent findings on urine microscopy did not prompt a change in management. Microscopy added nothing to dipstick results when clinicians suspected conditions causing hematuria alone. Primary use of dipstick urinalysis, with microscopy in selected cases, would likely result in considerable cost and time saving without compromising patient care.