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Evaluation of beaker test results
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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When conducting a glass test, 2 or 3 portions of urine are examined, obtained sequentially during a single urination. Before the test, the patient should not urinate for 3-5 hours. With a two-glass test, the patient collects urine in 2 vessels: the first should contain 100 ml of urine, the second - the remaining volume. With a three-glass test, urine is collected in 3 vessels: the first - the initial portion, the second - the middle, the third - the final.
Glass tests are widely used in urological practice, especially in men. They provide significant assistance in establishing the localization of the pathological process. The presence of pathological impurities (leukocytes, erythrocytes) only in the 1st portion indicates that their source is in the urethra (urethritis, urethral injury, tumor). Pathological impurities are found in approximately the same amount in all urine portions when the process is localized in the kidney or ureter, as well as in the bladder, if they enter the urine from the lesion constantly (for example, with a bleeding bladder tumor). If leukocytes, pus, mucus or blood (erythrocytes) are found only in the last portion of urine, there is reason to assume the localization of the lesion in the bladder or prostate gland.
The three-glass test is sometimes supplemented by a massage of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles. The patient urinates into the first two vessels, leaving some urine in the bladder. After this, the prostate gland is massaged, and the patient fills the third vessel with urine. Changes in the last portion of urine (after massage of the prostate gland or seminal vesicles) indicate an inflammatory process in these organs.
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