MedicineInternal MedicineNephrologyRenal NursingRenal PathologyRenal PathophysiologyChronic Kidney DiseaseHypertensive NephropathyRenal DiseaseRenal Function TestingRenal Function TestsRenal ImpairmentBlood Urea Nitrogen To Creatinine RatioImpaired Kidney FunctionKidney Function MonitoringPeripheral Edema ExaminationRenal DisordersRenal Dysfunction AssessmentSerum Creatinine AssessmentUrinary Urea Nitrogen
Henry Jones, 58, a building maintenance worker, is a known hypertensive. He's been followed through your outpatient clinic for years. His management course has been simple: blood pressure control by diet and diuretics. Until today, he's shown no signs of secondary kidney involvement. Now he's being admitted to your nursing unit with a rise in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine, and increased peripheral edema. How do you interpret this? Has Mr. Jones developed kidney insufficiency? Why is his serum BUN/creatinine elevated? Can you correlate this elevation with the degree of kidney failure? Here you'll find some useful answers to these questions. And you'll see how BUN and creatinine levels can guide your own assessment of kidney function.