September 2, 2010

Unusual Urine #002

Morning rounds can be fun sometimes…you never know what diagnostic conundrums and eponymous challenges you will face.

Casual perusal of the output from a patients indwelling catheter this morning provoked some consternation amongst the staff, but I have great faith that you will have little trouble in elucidating a comprehensive differential diagnosis for the unusual appearance of the depicted urethral elimination…

In case your mind is clouded with non-medical perturbations I have taken the liberty of outlining some of the more common causes below

Unusual Urine 002

Unusual Urine 002

Green Urine 001

Green Urine 008

Questions

What is unusual about the appearance of the urine?

The urine is green!

What are the possible causes?

Causes of green urine include IV or oral administration of products containing phenola, chlorophyllb or thymolc

  • Drugs
    • Cimetidine i.v. (Tagamet)a
    • Promethazine i.v. (Phenergan)a
    • Amitriptyline (Elavil)
    • Flutamide (Eulexin)
    • Indomethacin (Indocid)
    • Methocarbamol (Robaxin)
    • Methylene blue
    • Mitoxantrone (Novantrone)
    • Propofol (Diprivan)
    • Phenylbutazone
    • Triamterene (Dyrenium)
  • Consumer Products
    • Cloretsb
    • Listerinec
    • Magnesium Salicylate
    • Asparagus
  • Dyes
    • Carbolic Acid
    • Flavine derivatives
    • Indigo Blue
    • Methylene Blue
    • Resorcinol
  • Pathologic Conditions

References

ResearchBlogging.org

  • Riker RR, Glisic EK, & Fraser GL (2009). Propofol infusion syndrome: difficult to recognize, difficult to study. Critical care medicine, 37 (12), 3169-70 PMID: 19923937
  • Iyer VN, Hoel R, & Rabinstein AA (2009). Propofol infusion syndrome in patients with refractory status epilepticus: an 11-year clinical experience. Critical care medicine, 37 (12), 3024-30 PMID: 19661801

Related Posts

  1. Unusual Urine #003
  2. Unusual Urine #001
  3. Unusual Urine 004
  4. Faecaloma with cathartic bowel
  5. Radiological Oddity #007

About Mike Cadogan
Emergency physician with a passion for medical informatics and medical education. I write medical textbooks and host educational material at Life in the Fast Lane, HealthEngine and Popfossa.com. I write more eclectically on the web as @sandnsurf

Comments

  1. In the 'Fast Lane': Unusual Urine #002 http://tinyurl.com/yd9zedg

  2. beth hawkes says:

    the green urine RT @precordialthump: In the 'Fast Lane': Unusual Urine #002 http://tinyurl.com/yd9zedg

  3. trj17 says:

    What was determined to be the cause in this patient’s case? What is the most common cause of such deeply green urine? I can honestly say i’ve never encountered such a pure green…

  4. Rogue Medic says:

    Quite the sweet tooth. Any history of diabetes?

    What was alcohol level?

  5. Jabulani says:

    I’ve never seen green before, but pinky red yes. It happens in my children after they’ve consumed either cranberry or blackcurrant juice. And during blackberry season when we go picking, they have to sample a few … well, several actually. Ok, LOTS…!! I tell them I can count how many they’ve had by the colour of their urine. So far, they think I’m magic :)

  6. Francesca says:

    @sandsurf please RT again around St. Patrick's Day. Green… http://bit.ly/3HulE5

  7. Francesca says:

    Would have thought super green supplement foods like alfalfa, spirulina, etc. Crème de menthe…who would have known?! Nice cases you get over there.

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