CHAPTER 9 URINARY SYSTEM ABBREVIATIONS

By: Corey Dillow

ARF ARF stands for Acute Renal

Failure. Acute means an illness that

has had rapid onset or a short duration.

Renal refers to the kidneys. failure refers to the kidneys

being unable to do their job of filtering waste from the blood.

In ARF dangerous levels of toxins may accumulate in the body, edema may occur, and bones may weaken.

CRF CRF stands for Chronic Renal failure. Chronic and Acute renal failure are different

because a chronic disease is something that has existed long term and cannot be cured.

Chronic Renal Failure also results in, an inability of the kidneys to filter waste and toxins out of the body, edema, and loss of bone strength.

In the beginning stages of CRF you may not show any signs or symptoms. It usually becomes noticeable in the later stages of the disease.

CRF can result in end stage failure unless dialysis or a kidney transplant is done.

UTI UTI stands for urinary tract

infection. A urinary tract infection is

caused by bacteria that typically infects bladder.

The infection can spread to the kidneys.

UTI’s are more common in females because the urethra is closer to the anus than males.

UTI’s typically result in a burning stinging sensation while urinating and cloudy urine.

BUN BUN stands for Blood Urea

Nitrogen When protein is broken down

in the body Urea Nitrogen is created.

BUN is a blood test done to find the levels of Urea Nitrogen in the blood. Based on the tests findings you can get a glimpse into how well the kidneys and liver are functioning.

If the Urea Nitrogen levels are too high this may suggest impaired kidney or liver function.

UC UC stands for Urine Culture. A Urine Culture is done to

identify bacteria in the urine that could be the cause of a UTI.

This process checks to see if over a period of time bacteria grow in the urine sample.

Normally urine would be considered sterile which means bacteria would not grow in the urine.

If bacteria growth is found then the test is a positve.