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Creatinine

Kidney Function

CrSerum creatinine

Review status

Currently under review

Pending specialist review and validation.

What it shows

Creatinine is a waste product that your muscles make as they use energy. Your kidneys filter creatinine out of your blood and release it into urine. A creatinine test measures how much is present in your blood, and sometimes in urine, to help assess how well your kidneys are clearing wastes.

Results are also used to estimate overall kidney filtering capacity, called the estimated glomerular filtration rate. This helps your care team understand kidney function across different ages and body sizes. Your results are interpreted together with your age, sex, medical history, and other lab findings.

Why it matters

Creatinine helps detect and monitor kidney problems, guide dosing of medicines cleared by the kidneys, and check recovery after illness or surgery. It is often ordered for people with diabetes or high blood pressure, during evaluation of acute illness, before imaging that uses contrast dye, and when starting or adjusting certain medications.

Changes in creatinine can reflect dehydration, medication effects, blockage of urine flow, or injury to muscle or kidney tissue. Lower values can occur with low muscle mass or during pregnancy. Understanding the reason for a change helps prevent drug side effects, tailor treatment, and reduce the risk of progressive kidney disease.

Understanding your results

Your healthcare professional will compare your result with the laboratory’s reference interval and look at trends over time. A single reading is less informative than the pattern across several results, your symptoms, and other tests.

If a result is higher than expected, your clinician may repeat the test, review medicines, assess hydration, and order related tests such as estimated kidney function, urinalysis, a urine albumin to creatinine ratio, or cystatin C. If a result is lower than expected, the team will consider factors like low muscle mass, pregnancy, or chronic illness. Children have different expected values than adults. Urine creatinine varies with fluid intake and is often used to standardize other urine measurements. Do not start or stop medicines or supplements without medical advice; ask your clinician how to follow up.

Reference ranges

0.28 – 1 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
0 days – 8 days
28 – 51 umol/L
Female
0 days – 14 days
28 – 51 umol/L
Male
0 days – 14 days
0 – 2900 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
0 days – 3 months
0 – 3.4 mg/mmol
Female
0 days – 18 years
0 – 2.4 mg/mmol
Male
0 days – 18 years
5.3 – 15.9 mmol/d
Female
0 days – 150 years
7.1 – 17.7 mmol/d
Male
0 days – 150 years
0.44 – 1.14 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
8 days – 29 days
29 – 41 umol/L
Female
14 days – 1 month
29 – 41 umol/L
Male
14 days – 1 month
0.65 – 1.9 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
29 days – 6 months
30 – 43 umol/L
Female
1 month – 2 months
30 – 44 umol/L
Male
1 month – 2 months
32 – 44 umol/L
Female
2 months – 3 months
33 – 46 umol/L
Male
2 months – 3 months
25 – 40 umol/L
Female
3 months – 4 months
26 – 41 umol/L
Male
3 months – 4 months
0 – 2500 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
3 months – 2 years
26 – 41 umol/L
Female
4 months – 5 months
27 – 43 umol/L
Male
4 months – 5 months
27 – 42 umol/L
Female
5 months – 6 months
28 – 44 umol/L
Male
5 months – 6 months
25 – 34 umol/L
Female
6 months – 9 months
26 – 35 umol/L
Male
6 months – 9 months
0.82 – 2.62 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
6 months – 1 year
24 – 32 umol/L
Female
9 months – 1 year
24 – 33 umol/L
Male
9 months – 1 year
1.3 – 3.2 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
1 year – 2 years
19 – 37 umol/L
Female
1 year – 2 years
20 – 38 umol/L
Male
1 year – 2 years
19 – 41 umol/L
Female
2 years – 3 years
20 – 42 umol/L
Male
2 years – 3 years
0 – 1900 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
2 years – 4 years
1.48 – 2.76 mL/sec/1.73m²
All sexes
2 years – 150 years
21 – 44 umol/L
Female
3 years – 4 years
22 – 44 umol/L
Male
3 years – 4 years
23 – 47 umol/L
Female
4 years – 5 years
23 – 47 umol/L
Male
4 years – 5 years
0 – 1600 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
4 years – 6 years
24 – 50 umol/L
Female
5 years – 6 years
25 – 50 umol/L
Male
5 years – 6 years
26 – 53 umol/L
Female
6 years – 7 years
26 – 53 umol/L
Male
6 years – 7 years
0 – 1300 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
6 years – 8 years
27 – 56 umol/L
Female
7 years – 8 years
27 – 56 umol/L
Male
7 years – 8 years
29 – 58 umol/L
Female
8 years – 9 years
29 – 58 umol/L
Male
8 years – 9 years
0 – 1400 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
8 years – 10 years
30 – 61 umol/L
Female
9 years – 10 years
30 – 61 umol/L
Male
9 years – 10 years
31 – 63 umol/L
Female
10 years – 11 years
31 – 63 umol/L
Male
10 years – 11 years
0 – 1000 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
10 years – 12 years
32 – 66 umol/L
Female
11 years – 12 years
32 – 66 umol/L
Male
11 years – 12 years
34 – 68 umol/L
Female
12 years – 13 years
33 – 69 umol/L
Male
12 years – 13 years
0 – 800 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
12 years – 14 years
35 – 69 umol/L
Female
13 years – 14 years
35 – 72 umol/L
Male
13 years – 14 years
36 – 70 umol/L
Female
14 years – 15 years
37 – 74 umol/L
Male
14 years – 15 years
0 – 600 umol/mmol Creat
All sexes
14 years – 150 years
37 – 70 umol/L
Female
15 years – 16 years
38 – 75 umol/L
Male
15 years – 16 years
37 – 71 umol/L
Female
16 years – 17 years
39 – 76 umol/L
Male
16 years – 17 years
37 – 71 umol/L
Female
17 years – 18 years
40 – 76 umol/L
Male
17 years – 18 years
40 – 85 umol/L
Female
18 years – 150 years
0 – 2.7 mg/mmol
Female
18 years – 150 years
55 – 110 umol/L
Male
18 years – 150 years
0 – 1.9 mg/mmol
Male
18 years – 150 years

Reference intervals vary by laboratory, analyzer, methodology, population, and units. The ranges shown here are for education only. Always interpret your results against the reference interval printed on your own lab report.

Factors that could impact Creatinine

  • Hydration and recent exercise

    Dehydration can concentrate blood and temporarily raise creatinine, while excess fluid can dilute it. Strenuous exercise can cause short-term increases due to muscle breakdown.

  • Muscle mass and diet

    People with more muscle generally have higher baseline creatinine, while those with low muscle mass may have lower values. Large servings of cooked meat or creatine supplements can transiently raise results.

  • Medications and supplements

    Drugs such as trimethoprim, cimetidine, certain antibiotics, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and NSAIDs can raise creatinine or affect kidney blood flow. Creatine and some bodybuilding products may also influence results.

  • Sample timing and collection quality

    Incomplete or inaccurate urine collection can mislead interpretation. Delays in processing, contamination, or drawing blood from a limb with an infusion running can affect results.

  • Special populations

    Pregnancy, childhood, older age, and conditions that reduce muscle mass (for example, neuromuscular disease or limb amputation) change expected creatinine levels and how results are interpreted.

  • Acute illness and procedures

    Infections, vomiting, dehydration, major surgery, or recent contrast dye exposure can quickly change kidney function and creatinine. Prompt reassessment and supportive care may be needed.

2026

References

  1. McGill University Health Centre. (2015, August 17). Creatinine (Task CD 316296). Laboratory reference ranges.
  2. McGill University Health Centre. (2017, May 01). Creatinine (Task CD 699382). Laboratory reference ranges.
  3. Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) CKD Work Group. (2024). KDIGO 2024 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease. Kidney International Supplements. External link