Does your child’s pee look pink, red or brown? If it does, it’s a warning sign. And it’s time to get things checked out ASAP.
Blood in a child’s urine (pee), or hematuria, can show up for a lot of different reasons. Some are more serious than others. But when you or your child notices blood in the toilet after they’ve peed, you’ll want to make an appointment with a trusted pediatric healthcare provider.
Cleveland Clinic Children’s urology and nephrology teams diagnose and treat blood in pee and other related conditions daily. Our team understands seeing blood in your child’s urine can worry you and your child. We’re here to help you know what to expect from diagnosis and treatment. And we’ll do what it takes to help your child feel more like themselves as quickly as possible.
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When your child gets care at Cleveland Clinic Children’s, you can rest easy knowing they’re in good hands. Our understanding and experienced pediatric providers personalize every checkup, test and treatment. We make sure your child gets the best possible care — and results.
Whenever possible, Cleveland Clinic Children’s uses minimally invasive treatments like cystoscopy, laparoscopy and robotic surgery to diagnose and treat conditions that cause blood in a child’s urine. Doing this can often reduce trauma, pain and recovery time.
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Sometimes, getting kids out the door for an in-person appointment can take longer than the visit itself. You may be able to schedule a virtual visit instead. Your child will get the same great care and attention seeing their provider online — from the comfort of home.
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When you see blood in your child’s pee, you may think the worst. But it’s a common urinary system (urinary tract) symptom. And it’s important to understand that many things can cause this. Common causes of bleeding in a child’s urine are:
Some more serious conditions that can cause bloody urine are kidney (renal) disease and sickle cell disease. Bladder or kidney cancer are possible causes of blood in the urine but are also rare causes in children.
Visible blood in your child’s pee is called gross hematuria. Sometimes, your child may still have blood in their pee, but you can’t see it. That’s known as microhematuria — and the blood (red blood cells) is only visible under a microscope.
If you see blood in your child’s pee, or they have pain or other symptoms like fever, nausea, vomiting or chills, you’ll want to find out what’s going on.
You’ll want to be prepared to answer a lot of questions when you meet with your child’s provider. They’ll want to know all about what’s going on and may ask things like:
During the visit, your child’s provider will do a physical exam and order tests to help confirm a diagnosis.
Even if you can see blood in your child’s pee, their provider will want to do tests to find out what’s causing it. Your child may have:
Cleveland Clinic Children’s believes in team-based care that brings together the experience of providers from different specialties to diagnose and treat blood in a child’s urine. No two diagnoses are the same, so your child will have a care team focused on their specific needs with providers like:
We offer treatment for blood in a child's urine at the following locations in Northeast Ohio.
Your child’s treatment plan will depend on what’s causing blood in their urine. Medications are often a first-line therapy for blood in a child’s urine. Your child’s providers may prescribe antibiotics to treat infections and pain relievers to make your child more comfortable.
For more serious conditions like sickle cell disease, cancer or kidney disease, your child may take medications specific to those diagnoses, like chemotherapy or diuretics. Severe kidney disease may require dialysis or even a kidney transplant.
Many conditions can cause blood in a child’s urine. And when you see it, you’ll want to find out what’s causing it and get treatment quickly. The experts at Cleveland Clinic Children’s are here to help find out what’s going on with your child. Our caring team will guide you both through what to expect so you can feel more at ease about diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Getting an appointment with one of our experts for blood in a child’s urine is easy. We’ll help your child get care.
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