Creatinine
Serum Creatinine
- Sample
- Blood
- Usual units
- mg/dL
Also known as Serum Creatinine · Creat · S. Creatinine
What this test measures
Creatinine is a waste substance produced during routine muscle metabolism and removed from blood by the kidneys. A blood test measures its concentration, usually in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Reading your report
There isn’t one standard range for this test — each lab prints its own. Use the range shown next to your result.
Creatinine unit converter
Convert Creatinine units
Labs print this test in mg/dL or µmol/L depending on where the sample was run.
Related guides
- Guide
Why the same blood test has different "normal" ranges at different labs
Reference intervals are built from each lab's own population and equipment, which is why two labs can print different ranges for the same sample.
- Guide
Reference interval, cutoff, and the "optimal" numbers online: three different things
The range beside your result, the target a website quotes, and the threshold that defines a condition are built in different ways and answer different questions.
- Guide
Why the same lab printed a different reference range for you this year
Ranges are not fixed constants. The lab can change method, revise its reference group, or apply a range that depends on your age — none of which is an error.
- Guide
Creatinine, eGFR and urea: one measured, the others worked out from it
A kidney panel prints a waste product, an estimate derived from it, and a second waste product measured separately. Which is which, and why eGFR can move when creatinine doesn't.
- Guide
mg/dL and mmol/L: why the same result is printed two different ways
Two unit systems are in routine use, and a marker's number changes completely between them. How to tell which one you are holding, and why you cannot compare across them by eye.
- Guide
Panels, profiles and packages: what you actually paid for
A panel is a bundle of individual tests sold under one name, and the names are not standardised. How to work out what a package included — and what it left out.