Why My Patient's Urine Was Green in Intensive Care Unit ?

Abstract

Introduction: Urine analysis is an important part of patient follow-up in intensive care unit (ICU). In this case report we aimed to examine the green colored urine image we see in our ICU and the conditions that may cause this. Case: A 70-year-old male patient was admitted to our ICU due to multilobar pneumonia. During the follow-up, he was intubated due to respiratory distress and15 mcg-1kg-1min propofol infusion was started for sedation. It was observed that the urine was green after 16 hours. Factors that could cause color change in urine were evaluated. Infusion was stopped due to similar cases in the literature. The total amount of propofol administered to the patient was 1200 mg. It was observed that the urine color returned to normal 8 hours after the drug was discontinued. Conclusion: A rare side effect of propofol is urine discoloration. Urine color may change when the excretion of phenolic metabolites exceeds hepatic clearance. It is reported that it can be seen even in anesthesia induction or sedation doses. It is important to know that the application of propofol may change the color of the urine, that this will not be an important problem and that the color may return to normal with the discontinuation of the drug, in order to prevent unnecessary tests.