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Urea and Electrolytes Test

How the Test is Performed

The U&E test is a blood test and requires a few millilitres of blood from a vein. In newborn babies blood may be taken from a heel-prick sample.

Medical Conditions and Symptoms

U&E is usually performed to confirm normal kidney function (renal function) or to exclude a serious imbalance of biochemical salts in the bloodstream. A diverse number of conditions may be detected on the U&E test, as each parameter tested may be high or low. These conditions include:

• hyponatraemia (low sodium)
• hypernatraemia (high sodium)
• hypokalaemia (low potassium)
• hyperkalaemia (high potassium)
• metabolic acidosis (low bicarbonate)
• metabolic alkalosis (high bicarbonate)
• dehydration (high urea and/or creatinine)
• renal (kidney) impairment or failure (high urea and/or creatinine)
• gastrointestinal bleeding (high urea)
• hypoglycaemia (low glucose)
• hyperglycaemia (high glucose)

Each of these conditions in turn have several possible causes.

Test Results Explained

Related Specialists

• General Practitioner (GP)
• Emergency Physician
• General Physician
• Renal Physician
• Anaesthetist
• General Surgeon
• Endocrinologist
• Gastroenterologist

Related Procedures

• Pre-operative Anaesthetic assessment

Related Tests

• Sodium (Na)
• Potassium (K)
• Chloride (Cl)
• Biocarbonate (HCO₃, Bicarb)
• Urea (U)
• Creatinine (Cr)
• Glucose (glu)

Also Known As

• Urea, Electrolytes & Creatinine (UEC)
• Creatinine, Urea, Electrolytes & Glucose (CUEG)
• Electrolytes Routine Bichemistry

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