General Information:

The two main units used by medical laboratories are "conventional (used in the US) and SI (used by most other countries).

Pearls to know:

• For monovalent ions (i.e. Na+, Cl-) -- mEq/L=mmol/L (135 mEq = 135 mmol/L)
• For divalent ions (i.e. ionized Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) -- mEq/2=mmol (Mg²⁺ of 2 mEq/L = 1 mmol/L)
• Creatinine -- Multiply conventional untis by 88 (1 mg/dL = 88 mmol/L)
• Glucose -- Multiply SI units by 18 (4 mmol/L = 72 mg/dL)
• Hemoglobin--Multiply conventional units by 10 (14 g/dL = 140 g/L)

Relevance to the EM Physician:

These tips will help you convert labs to familiar values when reading medical literature, when working in another country, or when working with international colleagues.

University of Maryland Section of Global Emergency Health

Author: Andi Tenner, MD, MPH

References

Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A, et al. AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.

Ruschin, H and LoRusso J. Normal Values for Selected Blood and Urine Tests. Wiley. http://www.wiley.com/college/bio/tortora366927/resources/faculty/pdf/appb.pdf