Bilirubin blood test

A blood sample is needed.

You should not eat or drink for at least 4 hours before the test. Your health care provider may instruct you to stop taking medicines that affect the test. Many drugs may change the bilirubin level in your blood. Make sure your provider knows which medicines you are taking.

When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain. Others feel only a prick or stinging. Afterward, there may be some throbbing or a slight bruise. This soon goes away.

A small amount of older red blood cells are replaced by new blood cells every day. Bilirubin is left in the blood after these older blood cells are removed. The liver helps break down bilirubin so that it can be removed from the body in the stool. A level of bilirubin in the blood of 2.0 mg/dL can create jaundice .…

It is normal to have some bilirubin in the blood. A normal level is: Direct (also called conjugated) bilirubin: less than 0.3 mg/dL (less than 5.1 µmol/L) Total bilirubin: 0.1 to 1.2 mg/dL (1.71 to 20.5 µmol/L) Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Some labs use different measurements or…

In newborns, bilirubin level is higher for the first few days of life. Your child's provider must consider the following when deciding whether your baby's bilirubin level is too high: How fast the level has been rising Whether the baby was born early The baby's age Jaundice can also occur when more red blood cells…

There is little risk involved with having your blood taken. Veins vary in size from one person to another and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others. Risks associated with having blood drawn are slight, but may include: Excessive…

Daniels L, Khalili M, Goldstein E, Bluth MH, Bowne WB, Pincus MR. Evaluation of liver function. In: McPherson RA, Pincus MR, eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods . 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 22. Pratt DS. Liver chemistry and function tests. In: Feldman M, Friedman…