Kidney stones can be extremely painful. If diagnosed very late or left untreated, it would require major surgery and may also cause serious complications and malfunction in the kidneys. Getting a urine test for kidney stones can certainly assist early diagnosis and treatment.
Symptoms: The first symptom of kidney stones is usually a sharp, cramping or extreme pain in the lower back, or abdomen or groin caused by the stone moving in the urinary tract. This may sometimes be accompanied by nausea or vomiting. Sometimes the flow of urine may also be blocked. In some cases, the smaller stones may be squeezed out, leading to a burning sensation during passing urine or even blood in the urine.
Causes: Kidneys stones are formed when certain minerals or salts crystallize in the kidneys and clump together into hard masses. If they are very tiny they can easily pass through the urinary tract and are excreted, but in many cases they are too large, and have to be taken out by surgery.
While a small percentage of kidney stones are composed of uric acid, others could be formed by crystals of cystine, phosphate, ammonium, magnesium, sodium, citrate and struvite. A large percentage of kidney stones are formed by a combination of calcium, oxalates and phosphorus.
Importance of the test: A urine test can determine if the person has high levels of these chemicals, and is thus at risk for kidney stones. A urine test evaluates the urine samples and records its levels of acidity, the presence of any infection or crystals, or if it has any chemicals or components which can promote stone formation.
The test is usually recommended for those who have a family history of kidney stones, or if they have complained of certain symptoms related to kidney stones.
How it's done: Urine tests for kidney stones include urine cultures. Collection of urine can be of two types.
In one type of urine test for kidney stones, only the mid-stream urine is collected and sent for the culture. The other type of test (which is mostly recommended for children) is the 24-hour collection. In this, all the urine passed over a period of an entire day is collected in a container and sent to the lab.
Precautions: In both cases of urine collection, it is necessary to ensure a strict sense of hygiene and cleanliness, to prevent contamination of the sample. Wash your hands with soap and water before and after the collection. Also ensure that your penis/vulva is absolutely clean before passing urine. The container used for collecting the urine should also be absolutely clean.