Catecholamines In Urine: How It Is Done

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How It Is Done

24 hour urine sample

• You start collecting your urine in the morning. When you first get up, empty your bladder but do not save this urine. Write down the time that you urinated to mark the beginning of your 24-hour collection period.
• For the next 24 hours, collect all your urine. Your doctor or lab will usually provide you with a large container that holds about . The container has a small amount of preservative in it. Urinate into a small, clean container and then pour the urine into the large container. Do not touch the inside of the container with your fingers.
• Keep the large container in the refrigerator for the 24 hours.
• Empty your bladder for the final time at or just before the end of the 24-hour period. Add this urine to the large container and record the time.
• Do not get toilet paper, pubic hair, stool (feces), menstrual blood, or other foreign matter in the urine sample.

Last updated:	July 28, 2008
Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
Reviewed By:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Alan C. Dalkin, MD - Endocrinology
Editors:	Maria Essig, Tracy Landauer