Can urine dipstick predict an elevated serum creatinine?

The usefulness of rapid point-of-care creatinine testing for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in the emergency department

“…However, in life-threatening, time-sensitive situations, emergency physicians sometimes must have contrast-enhanced CT performed without waiting for a Cr level 4. Although CCr and eGFR are better markers of renal insufficiency, Cr is the marker most often used.…”

“…The most commonly used laboratory test value for deciding whether to perform contrast-enhanced CT is a serum Cr of 1.5 mg/dl or equal to 1.5 mg/dl. Therefore, serum Cr is usually measured in the clinical setting by a reference laboratory test in a central laboratory 3 4. However, the routinely used methods to measure serum Cr have technical limitations, including the need for the time-consuming centrifugation of samples.…”

“…Positive urine dipstick results might be correlated with increased serum Cr 4 12. Hence, the checking for proteinuria and haematuria by urine dipstick combined with risk factor screening may be a rapid method to predict which patients may safely undergo contrast CT in the ED.…”

“…Although CCr and eGFR are better markers for renal insufficiency for the prediction of CIN, Cr is a well-established biomarker for renal function,3 4 and a threshold Cr level is commonly used in the decision making on whether to perform contrast-enhanced CT 4. Further, Cr is currently widely used to estimate CCr and eGFR 13.…”

“…In most cases, the delay in waiting for a Cr level is not critical. However, in situations where patients may have life-threatening, time-sensitive conditions, such a delay may affect patient outcomes in a deleterious manner 4. The use of rapid point-of-care blood urea nitrogen/Cr testing (POCT-BUN/Cr) for the determination of a patient's risk of developing CIN could potentially reduce the time needed to achieve an accurate diagnosis and initiate treatment as well as the turnaround time in the ED.…”