Protein In The Urine Of A Baby

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Protein in the urine of a baby

Proteins are large molecules, the building blocks of various tissues. In small amounts, protein is constantly present in the urine of an infant. If the indicator is 30-60 milligrams in a daily volume, this is normal.

But if the protein in the baby's urine is present in a larger volume, this alarms the doctors and may be evidence that the main function of the kidneys is impaired.

After birth, the child needs a thorough examination, which allows to identify in time possible diseases of the urinary system.

According to medical statistics, kidney disease is a common pathology in infants. While the exact causes of kidney disease in infants are not fully understood, only a few risk factors are known to trigger these problems. Among such factors are heredity and intrauterine malformations, severe pregnancy and childbirth with complications, lack of oxygen during childbirth, infectious diseases of the mother during pregnancy.

The danger of kidney diseases in an infant is that they are almost asymptomatic; parents often perceive abdominal pain as ordinary colic caused by digestion. Local doctors make sure that parents regularly take the child's urine for analysis, such vigilance is not unreasonable. It is also recommended for dads and mothers to be especially careful and be sure to consult a doctor if any of them have pyelonephritis, cystitis, glomerulonephritis, urolithiasis.

It is worth paying attention to swelling on the face, the so-called "bags" under the eyes, swollen eyelids, the appearance on the legs of deep marks from the elastic bands of socks. Kidney problems in babies can cause pale skin, restless urination, abdominal pain, and a slight fever without signs of a cold.

Proteins can enter the urine not only as a result of diseases of the genitourinary system. In children without obvious pathologies, protein can appear in the urine, and this phenomenon is called orthostatic proteinuria. In this case, the protein in the urine of the child appears when he is in an upright position, and disappears in the supine position. While in infancy, babies still cannot be too active, but any activity of such crumbs, seemingly insignificant movements of the arms and legs, can cause an increase in protein in the urine.

If you take a urine test from a healthy child in the morning, immediately after waking up and collect urine during the day, then the protein will be found in the daily portion, but it will be absent in the morning urine. There are different types of proteinuria, and even when a baby is overfed, the protein in his urine can increase.

The reasons that are associated with an increased protein content in the urine of an infant include stress, hypothermia, allergies. Normally, the indicators should be up to 0.033-0.036 g / l., If they are higher than 1 g / l per day, then this is moderate proteinuria, and if they are equal to 3 g / l or more - proteinuria of a pronounced nature.

Examination of the urine of an infant

When collecting material for analysis, you need to know some rules, first of all, in urine, foreign substances should not get into, this affects the results and changes the indicators. The child's genitals must be clean, use only baby soap. The container for collecting urine must be sterile. It is advisable to take the urine fresh.

The analysis of urine for the presence of protein must be taken very seriously. Although it is difficult to catch the moment of urination in a child, nevertheless, if this is possible, it is preferable to collect a middle portion of urine.

Do not squeeze urine out of a diaper or diaper. Urine cannot be analyzed if three hours have passed since its collection.

Today, doctors have at their disposal modern methods that allow them to perform a general urine analysis. It is possible to identify kidney pathology using ultrasound. With orthostatic proteinuria, and with a low level of protein in the urine, special treatment is usually not required. In cases where, after repeated analysis, the protein is still present in the urine of an infant, additional research is required.

Whatever the reason that caused the appearance of protein in the urine, with a timely visit to the doctor, it can be eliminated. Depending on the situation, medication is prescribed in small doses for several months, subject to the recommendations of a specialist.

The infant's urine should be light straw. Complete clarity of urine indicates a healthy urinary system. In a healthy baby, the smell of urine is not sharp and nonspecific. Parents are obliged to be aware of how healthy their child is, the doctor will always help to decipher the urine test. The main thing is to start treating diseases on time so that the baby is healthy.

Author of the article: Lebedev Andrey Sergeevich | Urologist

Education: Diploma in the specialty "Andrology" received after completing residency at the Department of Endoscopic Urology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education in the urological center of the Central Clinical Hospital No. 1 of JSC Russian Railways (2007). Postgraduate studies were completed here by 2010.