An Evaluation of “Kits” for Determining Urea Nitrogen

A study of commercial kits available for measuring blood urea nitrogen was undertaken to evaluate acceptability in a hospital laboratory setting. Kits were assessed with regard to accuracy, precision, recovery data, and convenience, and were compared with an automated reference procedure. Generally, the kits performed well except at very low (10 mg. per dl.) or high (50 mg. per dl.) urea concentrations. Kits using diacetyl monoxime appeared more acceptable for use in emergency procedures than did those using urease.