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Fractional excretion of sodium
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| Fractional excretion of sodium |
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Definition:
Fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) is the amount of sodium actually excreted by your body relative to the amount filtered by the kidney. FENa is not a test, but rather a calculation based on the concentrations of sodium and creatinine in your blood and urine. Urine and serum chemistry tests are necessary to perform this calculation. Text Continues Below
Alternative Names:
FE sodium; FENa How the test is performed:
Samples of blood and urine are taken simultaneously and analyzed for sodium and creatinine levels. URINE COLLECTION Collect a "clean-catch" (midstream) urine sample. To obtain a clean-catch sample, men or boys should wipe clean the head of the penis. Women or girls need to wash the area between the lips of the vagina with soapy water and rinse well. As you start to urinate, allow a small amount to fall into the toilet bowl. (This clears the urethra of contaminants.) Then, in a clean container, catch about 1 to 2 ounces of urine and remove the container from the urine stream. Give the container to the health care provider or assistant. For infants, thoroughly wash the area around the urethra. Open a urine collection bag (a plastic bag with an adhesive paper on one end), and place it on your infant. For boys, the entire penis can be placed in the bag and the adhesive attached to the skin. For girls, the bag is placed over the labia. Place a diaper over the infant (bag and all). Check your baby frequently and remove the bag after the infant has urinated into it. For active infants, this procedure may take a couple of attempts -- lively infants can displace the bag. The urine is drained into a container for transport back to the health care provider.
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