title: When is red urine not hematuria?: A case report.
abstract: The definition of gross hematuria is "the presence of blood in the urine in sufficient quantity to be visible to the naked eye." Certainly red urine, especially after trauma, immediately sparks the concern for genitourinary trauma. However, we report the unique case of a 19-year-old male who presented with "gross hematuria" after a motorcycle accident that turned out not to be hematuria but rather urine discoloration caused by the liberal use of a topical sulfa ointment containing an azo dye obtained in Mexico. We discuss the differential diagnosis of pigmenturia due to drugs or food ingestion, which is sparsely reported in the literature, as well as the frequency of alternative treatments used by patients presenting to the Emergency Department and the impact that can have on their evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara, California 95051, USA.
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gausche-Hill
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000652:urine*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006417:Hematuria / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009282:Naphthalenesulfonates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D009824:Ointments; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001391:Azo Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D009282:Naphthalenesulfonates; D009824:Ointments; C021144:neoprontosil