We find that disposable nappies (diapers) are excellent for many applications such as steroid metabolites, creatinine and catecholamines, but may be risky for electrolytes and useless for SG. The urine volume is easily obtained by weighing and subtracting the dry weight of the diaper. Diapers all contain supersorb granules (polyacrylate resin) which swell in water. By using 10% saline for extraction, you minimise this swelling. Take out the wet portions, add a known volume of saline to make a mush, equilibrate for an hour and centrifuge to obtain the eluate. We use universal containers with a hole and some cotton wool tamped into the bottom. There is no need to attempt a full recovery - you just need a sample which has a known dilution, since you know the quantities of urine and saline that you started with. The same method can be used for timed collections, with a water-resisting liner over the diaper so that any faeces can be separated. This can of course be extended to home collection, since it needs not much in addition to normal care.
Norman Taylor
________________________________________
From: Clinical biochemistry discussion list [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Elizabeth MacNamara, Dr. [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 26 March 2013 13:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Urine collection in very premature babies
Our Neonatal ICU uses gauze placed inside a babies diaper to collect urine in these very tiny babies.
The gauze is then squeezed out by a nurse onto a dipstick or sometimes sent to our lab for analysis. They use the dipstick to check specific gravity as one of the assessments for dehydration.
How do the rest of your NICUs collect urine from this very premature babies as their skin is so fragile the little plastic bags can't be adhered to their skin.
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