Creatinine
What it measures
Creatinine is the basis for eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate), the calculated number doctors actually use to stage kidney function — the raw creatinine value alone is harder to interpret without knowing age, sex and body size. mg/dL is standard in India; µmol/L is the SI unit used internationally.
eGFR — the kidney-function number calculated from creatinine
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| G1 — normal or high | 90 or above |
| G2 — mildly reduced | 60 – 89 |
| G3a — mild to moderate | 45 – 59 |
| G3b — moderate to severe | 30 – 44 |
| G4 — severely reduced | 15 – 29 |
| G5 — kidney failure | below 15 |
All values in mL/min/1.73 m². These are stages, not a diagnosis: chronic kidney disease requires the reduction to have lasted at least three months, and KDIGO stages kidneys on eGFR together with albumin in the urine, not eGFR alone. Creatinine itself has no single normal value — it rises with muscle mass, which is why the same creatinine means different things in a large young man and a small elderly woman, and why the eGFR calculation exists.
Source: KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease
Reading it in a different unit
This lab reports Creatinine in mg/dl. Reports from other labs — especially ones using European or US-style formatting — sometimes use a different unit for the same measurement. The relationship between them:
| Reported unit | How it relates to mg/dl |
|---|---|
| mmol/l | mg/dl = mmol/l × 11.3122 |
| umol/l | mg/dl = umol/l × 0.0113122 |
Unit conversions verified against published molar masses and LOINC definitions. This is not a diagnostic reference — the normal range for any test is set by the laboratory that ran it and printed on your report.
Why this matters for tracking a trend
A value plotted next to earlier results only tells you something if every point is on the same scale. Two readings of the same test from two different labs, in two different units, can look like a dramatic change when nothing about your actual result changed — only the unit did. Converting to one scale before comparing is what keeps a trend line honest.
LOINC codes for this test: 2160-0, 38483-4.
General information about laboratory measurement, not medical advice. Whether a specific result is normal for you depends on your lab's reference range, your history and your doctor's judgement — not on this page.