Kidney function tests in children

Total renal function is best determined by urinalysis and serum creatinine determination. This may be supplemented, under controlled conditions, by fractional urinary phenosulfonphthalein clearance. The excretory urogram, while invaluable as a diagnostic test, lacks quantitative value as a function test. Until recently, individual renal function determinations depended upon the difficult and tedious cystoscopy and bilateral ureteral catheterization and skilled laboratory techniques. Frequently the necessity of anesthesia artificially depressed kidney function. Since 1956, the radioisotope kidney function test has offered an external, innocuous means of assessing individual renal blood flow, function and drainage plus evaluation of vesico-ureteral reflux. The method has distinct advantages for evaluation of pediatric urological problems.