Analysis of 895 consultations for hematuria in an emergency urology unit

Objective: To study efficacy of our diagnostic approach in patients with haematuria, as well as the information provided by the different tests. Patient and methods: The computerization of our emergency department, and the study of the data base have permitted us to study retrospectively 722 cases of hematuria seen at our center over a period of 10 months. The relation between the benign or malignant etiology of the hematuria, and the presence or absence of associated symptoms and the intensity of the hematuria is shown, as well as the relation between the intensity of the hematuria and the decrease in the hemoglobin rates detected. Results : Fifty eight percent of the 722 patients, 39% of them due to neoplasm. The intensity of had one symptom only hematuria was significantly superior in the patients with the final diagnosis of neoplams. The accomplishment of reactive strip, basic imaging techniques and urine sediment has permittted in our series to direct the diagnosis in 67,3% of patients. Cystoscopy has shown great efficacy in diagnosing the cases of monosymptomatic hematuria with normal radiological studies. Conclusion: Monosymptomatic hematuria deserves a work-up to rule out malignancy. Reactive strip, urine sediment, KUB and ultrasonography allow to direct the diagnosis in most cases.