K+ Electrolytes Ion Selective Electrode test is used to measure the amount of potassium present in a sample of urine. It is one of the essential minerals useful for maintaining fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve impulses in the body.
What is potassium?
Potassium is a water-soluble mineral and is found in most of the foods. It regulates the water balance along with the sodium and plays an important role in generating the electrical potential for nerve cells that help in the conduction of nerve impulses. It also plays an essential role in cellular biochemical reactions, metabolism, synthesis of proteins from amino acids, metabolism of carbohydrates, glucose, and glycogen.
Why this test is recommended?
The K+ Electrolytes Ion Selective Electrode test is done to know whether an individual is having normal or abnormal potassium levels in the urine.
The doctor may ask to perform this test if an individual is suffering from conditions like hyperkalemia, hypokalemia, kidney failure, use of anti-diuretic medications like vasopressin, chlorothiazide, diabetes, cardiac arrhythmias, etc.
If an individual is suffering from symptoms like diarrhoea, vomiting, eating disorders, muscle damage, weakness, fatigue, paralysis in the arms and the legs, muscle cramps, irregular heartbeats, constipation, trauma, then the doctor may ask to do this test.
Generally, when a patient is diagnosed with diseases like kidney failure, Diabetes Mellitus (DM) or malnutrition visits hospital for a general check-up, the doctor may recommend this test to analyze the condition. Mostly, this test is done along with other Potassium tests and electrolyte test to confirm the diagnosis.
Drugs like diuretics(water pills), NSAIDs (Pain killers), lithium, digoxin, phenytoin, insulin, cyclosporin, indapamide, etc may change the levels of potassium in the blood and urine. Hence, you are advised to inform your doctor about all your current medications before undergoing this test.
Inform your doctor if you are on any medications, have any allergies or underlying medical conditions before your K+ Electrolytes Ion Selective Electrode Random Urine. Your doctor will give specific instructions depending on your condition on how to prepare for K+ Electrolytes Ion Selective Electrode Random Urine.
Healthcare professional may ask you to collect the urine sample in a sterile container. Follow all the appropriate instructions given by the healthcare professional during and after the urine sample collection. Submit the collected urine samples in the lab for the test.
If test results are more than the normal range then it may indicate that there may be conditions like Addison’s disease (disorder in which adrenal gland doesn’t produce enough hormones), kidney dysfunction or failure, diabetic acidosis (diabetic complication where body produces too much blood acids),high consumption of food items containing potassium, hypomagnesemia (low levels of magnesium), bacterial or viral infections, dehydration, head injury or traumatic injury (sudden physical injury caused by external force).
If test results are less than the normal range, then it indicates that there may be a chance for conditions like electrolyte imbalance, hypokalemia, irregular heartbeat, hypoaldosteronism (decreased levels of aldosterone).
|MALE||All age groups||25 - 100 mEq/24hr|
|FEMALE||All age groups||25 - 100 mEq/24hr|