Urinalysis results describe what a lab found when it looked at your urine, tested it with a chemical dipstick and examined it under a microscope. A typical report lists more than 15 items, from color and specific gravity to white blood cells and crystals, and most of them should read negative, normal or within a narrow range. A single abnormal line rarely means much on its own; what matters is the pattern, your symptoms and whether the sample was collected cleanly.<\/p>
In this article you’ll learn what each part of a urinalysis checks, the normal values for every common item, how doctors read typical patterns such as infection or blood in the urine, how to give a reliable sample and when a result needs follow-up.<\/p>
A urinalysis is one of the most common lab tests. Mayo Clinic<\/a> explains that it is used for routine checkups, pregnancy visits and before surgery, to look into symptoms such as painful or frequent urination, back pain or blood in the urine, and to monitor known conditions such as kidney disease or urinary tract infections. According to the MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia<\/a>, the lab examines the sample in three ways.<\/p> Not every report includes all three parts. Some labs perform the microscopic exam only when the dipstick is abnormal or when it is specifically requested. If your urinalysis results include a separate section of counts per field, you can see what those numbers mean by reading our urine microscopy guide<\/a>.<\/p> The values below come from Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. Reference ranges vary slightly between laboratories, so always compare your report with the range your lab prints next to each result.<\/p>Normal urinalysis results at a glance<\/h2>