Urine Collection Containers - Specimen Cups, Urine Hats

24-hour urine collection measures the content of the urine in order to check kidney function. Doctors usually order this lab test to diagnose kidney problems caused by diabetic nephropathy, high blood pressure, frequent UTIs, kidney stones, and polycystic kidney disease. You will need a 24-hour urine collection bottle and possibly a urine hat or cylinder and you must remember to flush your first morning specimen. Store the urine container in the fridge with the lid securely on.

Open the urine specimen container and place the cap upside down on the sink, bathroom shelf, or the back of the toilet. Wash your hands and your intimate parts and rinse well. Pass a few drops of urine into the toilet and catch the rest in the urine specimen cup. Pick up the lid without touching it inside and screw it on tightly.

AllegroMedical.com sells sterile 4 oz urine specimen containers that are packaged individually in plastic bags. They close tightly so you don't need to worry about spilling or contaminating the contents. You can buy one urine specimen cup if that is all you need, but it is considerably more convenient to buy a set of 100 and never run out when you or a family member have an emergency and need to head to the lab.

The best way is to collect a midstream urine sample in a sterile specimen container as outlined above. If it is too difficult to clean-catch a urine sample in a small container, use a urine hat as an intermediary step. Sterile urine specimen collection cups are available.

A urine collection hat, or specimen collection unit, fits on the rim of the toilet and is used to collect either urine or stool samples or to catch kidney stones. Since it comes with easy-to-read calibrations, it is also very useful for measuring the volume of urine. You may want to collect a urine sample and have difficulty using the specimen cup directly or you may want to monitor the urine volume over 24 hours. In both cases, the urine hat is a convenient and hygienic way to collect and transfer the urine to the appropriate container. To use a urine collection hat, you must first lift the toilet seat and place the hat inside the toilet with the rounded wide lip on the toilet rim. Place the toilet lid back down and proceed as usual. Carefully transfer the contents into a specimen container or a 24-hour urine collection bottle, as needed.

Urine hats are disposable by design to avoid cross-contamination of samples, but if you only need them to measure the urine volume, then it is permissible to reuse them. In that case, once you write down the volume, simply pour the contents of the urine hat into the toilet and wash it out thoroughly with water and soap. If you use the urine collection hat to measure 24-hour volume, pour its contents into the collection bottle after catching it in the device. In this case, it is essential to clean the container with water only and then let air dry between transfers.

If you collect urine to submit it for lab tests, you must make sure the urine collection containers are sterile. They are designed as single-use plastic containers and reusing them can affect lab results. If you have no other option, wash the urine specimen cup with dish soap, rinse it at least 10 times with tap water and allow it to air dry. To make sure you never run out of collection cups again, buy them as a set.