Urinary pH is an important factor related to renal stone disease, and it plays an essential role in stone prevention. Monitoring of urinary pH by patients at home provides information that can help to assess the treatment needed by each patient. We conducted a systematic review is to assess the available evidence concerning urinary pH monitoring methods along with their accuracy, cost, and usefulness by patients with urolithiasis.
A total of 9 articles were included (1886 urinary pH measurements). They reported information about urinary dipsticks, portable electronic pH meters and electronic strip readers, amongst other methods. Accuracy was compared with a laboratory pH meter (gold standard). Urinary dipsticks were found to be not accurate enough to guide clinical decision making and portable electronic pH meters showed promising results. Urinary dipsticks are neither precise nor accurate enough. Portable electronic pH meters seem to be more accurate, easy to use, and cost-effective. They are a reliable source for patients to use at home in order to prevent future episodes of nephrolithiasis.
Current urology reports. 2023 Jun 14 [Epub ahead of print]
Isabel Sanz-Gómez, Oriol Angerri, Michael Baboudjain, Andrés Kanashiro, Sílvia Gracia, Félix Millán, Francisco Sánchez-Martín, Bhaskar Somani, Juan Antonio Galan-Llopis, Yazeed Barghouthy, Esteban Emiliani
Department of Urology, Fundació Puigvert, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. ., Department of Urology, Fundació Puigvert, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain., Department of Urology, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, UK., Department of Urology, Dr. Balmis General University Hospital, Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), Alicante, Spain., Department of Urology, CH Valenciennes, Valenciennes, France.