What is the cause of occult blood in pregnant women's urine

After pregnancy, everyone hopes that the pregnant woman will be healthy, but many pregnant women will encounter various problems, some of which may even affect the normal pregnancy. Occult blood in urine is a problem encountered by many pregnant women. Because it may be a urogenital disease, it is very worrying and people are afraid that it will cause serious consequences. So, what is the cause of occult blood in pregnant women’s urine? Let’s take a look below.

First, we need to see if the patient has any symptoms, whether they are found during a physical examination or if there are symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency and pain, low back pain, fever, edema, hypertension, etc., the severity of hematuria, and whether there are any abnormalities in other urine tests, such as proteinuria, white blood cells, casts, etc. Another very important point is the possibility of contamination of the urine, such as vaginal bleeding contaminating the urine. Can be divided into infectious and non-infectious:

Infectious: Urinary tract infection is divided into upper and lower urinary tract infection. Generally, patients have symptoms, and urine routine tests show leukocytosis, etc.

Non-infectious: Whether the patient has urinary stones, has ever suffered from nephritis, or currently has various types of kidney diseases such as chronic nephritis, IgA nephropathy, etc., often accompanied by symptoms such as edema, hypertension, proteinuria, etc. Systemic diseases such as lupus and Sjögren's syndrome are less common, as well as blood system diseases with bleeding tendency and urinary tract tumors. It is recommended to go to the hospital for relevant examinations, including imaging examinations such as B-ultrasound if necessary.

What is occult blood in urine?

Urine occult blood is an indicator found during routine examination of human urine. One of the tests in the urine routine is to check the number of red blood cells in the urine. If the number of red blood cells increases (normally negative), a small number can be called urine occult blood. Urine occult blood, as an indicator, can be divided into negative and positive. If it is positive, it is several plus. Generally, occult blood in urine is caused by kidney problems or urinary tract infection.

A positive urine occult blood test means that there are red blood cells in the urine, but it is not visible hematuria, but red blood cells are found through testing. Hematuria is divided into gross hematuria, total hematuria, and positive urine occult blood; in clinical practice, the three-cup test is also used to analyze where the hematuria comes from. The three-cup test is that the patient divides his urine into three parts and places them in three test tubes. If hematuria is found in the first tube, it means that the bleeding site is in the urethra; if hematuria is found only in the last cup, it means that the bleeding site is from the bladder; if hematuria is found in all three cups, it means that the hematuria is from the kidneys. Blood clots in the urine often indicate bleeding in the bladder or urethra.

The presence of red blood cells cannot be observed with the naked eye or under a microscope, but there is a reaction when tested with a test strip. Why is this so? When red blood cells are destroyed, the hemoglobin contained in them will be released, so the urine test stick can detect the reaction of hemoglobin. But why do red blood cells burst before leaving the body? This is because the lifespan of the red blood cells has come to an end, and they dissolve on their own like foam. It may also be because after drinking a lot of water, the urine becomes thinner and the tension decreases, causing the red blood cells to burst. In any case, when there is occult blood in the urine, it is a warning sign, just like hematuria, and should not be taken lightly.