We often rely on diagnostic testing to augment our physical examination skills. These tests may be in the form of imaging that allows us to see things that we normally cannot, or measurements of body composition using laboratory testing.

If you look at the “menu” of tests that your hospital laboratory offers, it is very extensive. You can order just about any assay imaginable on any body fluid or tissue. Diagnosis of many of the clinical diseases or disorders that we treat has come to rely on some of these assays.

Let’s take rhabdomyolysis, for example. I’ve been writing about compartment syndrome in the last few posts. One of the byproducts of a full-blown compartment syndrome is muscle breakdown. Two of the well-known substances released from injured muscle are creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin.

Many textbooks advise the clinician to monitor levels of these substances, since myoglobin is toxic to nephrons and may lead to kidney injury. So most trauma professionals routinely write orders for serial CK, myoglobin, as well as creatinine to monitor renal function.

But most clinicians do not know their laboratory as well as they think. Your lab has the capability to perform commonly requested tests rapidly and on site. But what about assays that are rarely ordered? Does it make sense to have the reagents necessary for these uncommon tests on hand at all times? They degrade over time, and may very well expire before they are ever used, costing money to replace.

So most hospital labs send uncommon assays out to larger labs that perform the test for a large geographic area. But how does the “send out” specimen get to that lab? By courier (if local) or more commonly, by delivery service (if remote). And obviously, this takes time. And some assays are complex and may take hours or days to perform.

At my hospital lab, a serum or urine myoglobin assay is a “send out” test. And if you ask, the lab will tell you that it takes 3-4 business days to get the result. So if you send it out Wednesday, you will have the result the following Monday! Does it make any sense to get serial myoglobins? Or even a single myoglobin test? By the time you get the result, your patient will be treated and gone!

Bottom line: Think about the tests that you order very carefully. If you are ordering something out of the ordinary, check with your lab. Is it a “send out” test? How long does it take to get a result? And more importantly, how expensive is it? These tend to be pricey due to the low frequency of processing.

Then do the math. Is it worth the wait and expense? Or can you get the same information using routine, in house testing? In the case of rhabdomyolysis, serum CK levels are good markers, as is visual inspection of the urine. If it’s any darker than a light yellow, there may be myoglobin present. A quick and dirty way to confirm is some inexpensive testing: a urine specimen that is dipstick positive for blood, and with microscopic analysis shows few if any RBCs usually means myoglobin. Voila! Diagnosis now, not in 4 days.