COLOUR
Description
- Normal urine can vary from pale light yellow to a dark amber colour.
Clinical significance
- Urine can be a variety of colours, most often shades of yellow, from very pale or colourless to very dark or amber. Normal urine colour is due to the presence of a pigment called urochrome. Urine colour varies based on urine concentration and chemical composition. Highly concentrated urine has a darker yellow appearance. This may be seen in volume-depleted patients. Dilute urine has a light yellow appearance, seen in patients with diabetes insipidus due to impaired urine concentrating ability
- Urine colour may vary due to certain medications, foods, and medical conditions.
- Red urine – UTIs, nephrolithiasis, hemoglobinuria, porphyrias (port wine) and drugs like chlorpromazine, thioridazine
- Orange urine - Foods like Carrot, vitamin C and drugs viz. Rifampin, phenazopyridine
- Green urine – Intake of Asparagus, UTI, drugs viz. Vitamin B, methylene blue, amitriptyline
- Blue urine - Blue diaper syndrome and drugs viz. Methylene blue, indomethacin, amitriptyline, triamterene
- Purple urine -Bacteriuria in patients with urinary catheters (purple urine bag syndrome)
- Brown urine – Gilbert syndrome, hepatobiliary disease and drugs viz. Levodopa, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, primaquine, chloroquine
- Black urine – Malignant melanoma
- White urine - Chyluria, pyuria, phosphate crystals
When to get tested
- As part of a routine urine analysis
Elevated level
Decreased level
Profile
Urine Analysis
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