Effects of dialysis on urine drug screening

I operate a transitional housing program for adult men with HIV and/or AIDS.  One of my residents attends dialysis 3x/week due to renal failure.  Two questions: (1) should this resident be able to urinate at will, when asked to provide a sample for a urine drug test?  (2) what, if any, effects will dialysis have on the validity of urine drug test results?  

[IBKleen]

Hi!

These are medical questions. There are no doctors here. Sorry.

If you go out to the home page, you can check the other forums and see which one may fit your situation. Good Luck.

[Quikstick]

Patients on dialysis have chronic renal failure. Some still make urine and some do not. Usually if they have been on dialysis for a long time they do not make any urine at all, so they will more than likely not be able to urinate on demand. It really just depends on the stage of the disease. Chances are if your patient tells you he cannot urinate he is telling you the truth. Observe him closely and see if he visits the bathroom often. If he still urinates he will do it possibly two to three times, maybe more per day. The quality of urine is different in a dialysis patient due to the loss of filtering function by the kidney. Can't answer #2. I would call a nephrology office (MD specailizing in kidney disease) or the lab that processes your specimens for an answer.

[worried878]

I was a dialysis nurse....first job...most can not urinate...you could get a blood sample but I would do it before the dialysis treatment and the same for the urine sample if they can urinate...dialysis cleans the blood and would remove lots of things/toxins/that is the reason the dialize is because their kidneys do not function well enough to clean their blood like it should

[ND_Martin_85]

Some dialysis patients can pee some can not. I can’t pee at all now, but I’m also considered to have End Stage Renal Failure (stage five). Most people can still pee with kidney failure though, even if their on dialysis as long as they’re between Stage one and four. Unfortunately though, because of the lack of kidney function there is no viable, or accurate way for them to be drug tested via bodily fluids, even if they can produce urine. I would suggest keeping a close eye on the person and watching for the typical signs of drug and alcohol abuse. I have heard of a new eye test that measures the pupil’s reaction time to light that is actually supposed to be more accurate then a urine test. It does require a sober baseline though, and I do not know how much the machine costs or what it’s operational requirements are.