Routine microscopic examination of the urine sediment. Should we continue?

Our study attempted to answer the following questions: What percentage of patients at routine hospital admission have notable urine sediment abnormalities? Is the urine specific gravity related to the yield of sediment abnormalities? Is there an increased yield of sediment abnormalities when the test is specifically requested by the physician? Of 442 patients admitted to the hospital, microscopic sediment abnormalities were present in 28%. In one half of these, the only abnormality was the presence of WBCs. There was no relationship between the yield of microscopic abnormalities and urine specific gravity. When the examination was specifically requested by the physician, our work load dropped by 75%. However, surprisingly, the yield of abnormalities did not increase. Therefore, we recommend that microscopic sediment examination be performed on every patient admitted to the hospital.