Blood in urine is a sign of worry and the first bother is to understand why it is happening. If you have blood in urine only on a simple urine test and there is otherwise no visible redness in the urine then you are suffering from microscopic or occult hematuria. But if your urine is clearly red or has clots then you have gross hematuria and here are a few reasons which can cause gross hematuria.
Causes of Blood in Urine
- Urinary Infections – Usually associated with fever and burning in urine
- Kidney Stones – Pain in the flank and prior incidence of stones may be associated
- Problems with Kidneys blood supply such as thrombosis or embolism
- Prostate Enlargement – Difficulty in passing urine will point to it
- Tumors – usually more common in those above 35 years and a history of smoking
- Medical Renal Disease – Associated lifestyle diseases may be present such as diabetes and blood pressure.
- Medicines and Beet root
How to go about treating Blood in Urine ?
The first step you need to take is to book an appointment with one of our experts. The urologist is the right doctor to consult if your urine is red. Once you are in the office of one of our experts we will ask you the associated symptoms such as pain, burning in urine, presence of fever, any new medicine used, injury or difficulty in passing urine. Based on what your symptoms suggest we will investigate the cause further with initially some basic tests like urine culture and sensitivity and an ultrasound of the kidneys and urinary bladder.
Here are some other tests that may be needed.
- CT scan of the abdomen
- Cystoscopy or endoscopy of the urinary tract
- Tests for Tuberculosis (Genitourinary Tuberculosis)
- Protien estimation and markers of inflammation
- Urine Cytology
Why you need to take blood in urine seriously
Blood in urine especially if it is coming along with blood clots in urine can be a sign of a cancerous tumor. Hence you do need to see a urologist at the earliest. Although the chances of tumor are not the highest and there are many other causes of such a bleeding but we cannot afford to delay the diagnosis. Other causes like thrombosis can put your kidneys life at risk and require urgent attention as well.
Treatment of Blood in urine
Infections, small stones and prostate enlargement can be treated easily with medicines but larger stones may need some intervention in the form of lithotripsy or laser surgery. Problem with the renal artery or veins need to me managed with blood thinning medications on urgent basis to save the life of the kidney while tumors will need to be removed with endoscopic, robotic or laparoscopic surgery at the earliest while they are still small. The crux is diagnosing in time and all problems causing blood in urine are potentially curable.
