List of critical values
|
ANALYTE |
AGE RANGE |
CRITICAL VALUE |
UNITS |
|
Anion Gap |
Any age |
>30 |
mmol/L |
|
Bicarbonate (Whole Blood) |
Any age |
<10 |
mEq/L |
|
Calcium * |
Any age |
<6.5 |
mg/dL |
|
Chloride |
Any age |
<80 |
mmol/L |
|
CO2 |
Any age |
<10 |
mmol/L |
|
CO Hemoglobin |
Any age |
>20 |
% |
|
Free (ionized) Calcium * |
Any age |
<0.8 |
mmol/L |
|
Creatinine |
1-28 days 5weeks-23mo 2y-11y 12y-15y Adults |
≥1.5 ≥2 ≥2.5 ≥3 ≥10 |
mg/dl |
|
Digoxin |
Any age |
≥4 |
ng/ml |
|
Glucose |
0-2 days |
<35 |
mg/dL |
|
Glucose |
<30 days |
>200 |
mg/dL |
|
Glucose (GDM) |
Any age |
<50 |
mg/dL |
|
Glucose PXP Glucose meter (POCT) |
Any age |
<40 |
mg/dL |
|
Iron, Serum |
Any age |
≥350 |
ug/dL |
|
Magnesium |
Any age |
<1.0 |
mg/dL |
|
pCO2 |
Any age |
>65 |
mmHg |
|
pH |
Any age |
<7.20 |
pH units |
|
pH - Arterial & Venous Blood Gases, Cord Blood |
Any age |
<= 7.00 |
N/A |
|
Base Excess - Arterial & Venous |
Any age |
<= -10.0 |
mmol/L |
|
Phosphorus |
<3 years of age |
≤2.5 |
mg/dL |
|
pO2 (arterial) |
Any age |
<50 |
mg/dL |
|
Potassium |
Less than 1 week |
<2.5 |
mmol/L |
|
Potassium; |
Any age |
<3.0 |
mmol/L |
|
Sodium |
Any age |
<125 |
mmol/L |
|
TCO₂ (Whole Blood) |
Any age |
<10 |
mEq/L |
|
Total Bilirubin |
<1 day |
≥7 |
mg/dL |
|
Troponin I |
Any age |
≥0.3 |
ng/mL |
|
Troponin I: |
Any age |
≥0.1 |
ng/mL |
* Calcium: mmol/L (SI unit) = 0.25 (conversion factor) x mg/dL (conventional unit)
|
|
Critical value |
|||
|
Hb |
Critical value: ≤ 6.0 g/dl, ≥ 20 g/dl
|
|||
|
Hct |
Critical value: ≤ 18%, > 60%
|
|||
|
WBC |
Critical value: ≤ 2.0, ≥ 49.9X103 /ul
|
|||
|
Platelets |
Critical value: ≤ 20,000,≥ 999,000/ ul
|
|||
|
Absolute neutrophil count |
Critical value: <500/ cm3 or ,≥ 999,000/ ul
|
|||
COAGULATION3-
|
ANALYTE |
AGE RANGE |
CRITICAL VALUE |
UNITS |
|
Fibrinogen |
Any age |
<100 |
mg/dL |
|
Heparin, unfractionated |
Any age |
<0.1 |
IU/mL |
|
PTT
|
Any age |
≥100 |
sec |
|
PT INR |
Any age |
>5.0 INR
|
N/A |
|
PT INR; |
Any age |
>4.5 |
N/A |
|
ANALYTE |
AGE RANGE |
CRITICAL VALUE |
UNITS |
|
Any assay: Potential Bioterrorism Agent |
Any age |
Presence of potential B. anthracis or any BT agent. Bacillus anthracis Francisella tularensis Yersinia pestis Brucella species |
N/A |
|
Blood Culture |
Any age |
Any clinically important positive result per protocol |
N/A |
|
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis: Ziehl neelsen stain, Culture or PCR Test |
Any age |
Positive |
N/A |
|
Stool culture |
<18 years |
Positive Shiga toxin producing E. Coli
|
N/A |
|
CSF culture |
Any age |
Organism seen in CSF direct film or culture |
N/A |
|
ANALYTE |
AGE RANGE |
CRITICAL VALUE |
UNITS |
|
Antigen test, culture, serology, or molecular test |
Any age |
Positive or suspicious for any Pandemic (Influenza or SARS) or Bioterrorism Agents (Smallpox, Viral hemorrhagic fever agents |
N/A |
|
Any CSF Assay |
Any age |
Positive (including virus growth or molecular test) |
N/A |
J Aldrige 05/2008 mod 09/2009
stanfordhealthcare.org/health-care-professionals/laboratory-critical-value-list.html