Bubbles in Urine with Polycystic Kidney Disease(PKD)

It is common for PKD patients experience proteinuria and in general, proteinuria will show up as foams or bubbles in patients′ urine. All of us know that just after we urinate, the urine will form some foams in the surface of urine, but these bubbles will disappear in a short time. This phenomenon is very normal. Different from foamy urine in nephrotic syndrome, usually PKD patients will not have too much foams in urine and their 24-h urine protein is usually 1-2g when foamy urine first appears. This is because in the early stage of PKD, it is the renal tubules that are damaged.

There are several conditions in clinic that can lead to foamy urine.

1.Low amounts of fluid intake: This can lead to formation of concentrated urine, resulting in foamy urine.

2. Sometimes, the urine has high alkalinity and contains some glucose or mineral salt, which may also lead to the formation of foams. In most cases this might be normal.

3.Glucose and mineral salt in urine: If these substances appear in urine, they can also produce foamy urine.

4. If a person consumes too much protein at a time and takes too little water, which can cause the increase of the concentration of proteinuria, foams may be formed when urinating.

5.Another cause of bubbles in urine in PKD may be due to vesicocolic fistula which refers to a connection what unnecessarily forms between the urinary bladder and the large intestines.This condition can cause edema at the base of the bladder. Bubbles in urine may appear due to the edema.

If not well treated, proteinuria can worsen the prognosis of PKD because the leaking of excess proteins can further damage renal filtering system and cause even more proteins to be lost in urine.

Besides, a healthy diet is also inevitable to treat PKD as well as foamy urine.