Bilirubin Test Price in Pakistan: Rs 455 at Marham Lab

Bilirubin is a yellowish substance made during your body's normal process of breaking down old red blood cells. MedlinePlus explains that it is found in bile, the fluid your liver makes to help you digest food, and that a healthy liver removes most of it through the bile ducts. If the liver is damaged or the bile ducts are blocked, bilirubin leaks into the blood. At Marham Lab a bilirubin test costs Rs 455, reduced from Rs 650.

Read this part carefully if you have a yellow baby, because MedlinePlus is balanced about it in a way that matters.

MedlinePlus states that many healthy babies get jaundice because their livers have not developed enough to get rid of the bilirubin, and that newborn jaundice is usually not harmful and clears up within a few weeks.

It then adds the reason testing still happens: in some cases, high bilirubin levels can lead to brain damage, so infants are often tested as a precaution.

Both halves are true at once. Most yellow babies are fine. The test exists because the small number who are not need to be found early. That is why a paediatrician asks for it rather than waiting to see.

For a baby, MedlinePlus describes a heel stick: the provider cleans the heel with alcohol, pricks it with a small needle, collects a few drops of blood and applies a bandage.

If a newborn's jaundice has not cleared in two weeks, that is also the point at which a [G6PD test](/labs/tests/g6pd-test-price) may be added, since G6PD deficiency is one cause of jaundice that persists.

Three lines appear on Pakistani prescriptions and people often assume the dearer one is better. They measure different fractions of the same substance.

MedlinePlus lists all of these among the other names for bilirubin testing. All three cost the same here, so price is not the deciding factor. Book what your doctor wrote. If the prescription says only bilirubin, the total is what is being asked for.

Our [liver function test](/labs/tests/lft-test-price) panel already includes bilirubin, so do not book these separately as well if your doctor ordered an LFT.

MedlinePlus says a provider may order a bilirubin test if you have jaundice, dark urine, clay coloured stool, or stomach pain, noting these could indicate hepatitis, cirrhosis or other liver diseases.

The combination of dark urine with pale stool is particularly worth reporting, since it points towards a problem with bile flow rather than the liver cells themselves.

MedlinePlus lists the other reasons for testing.

• To find out whether there is a blockage in your bile ducts
• To monitor an existing liver disease
• To diagnose disorders where the body breaks down red blood cells too quickly

On that last one it gives the example: high bilirubin may be a sign of haemolytic anaemia, a condition where your body destroys red blood cells faster than it makes them.

MedlinePlus is clear that normal ranges can vary from lab to lab, so read your figure against the reference interval printed next to it on your own report rather than one from a website.

High bilirubin, called hyperbilirubinaemia, may be due to haemolytic anaemia, liver disease, or a blockage in the bile ducts.

Low bilirubin is not usually a cause for concern. MedlinePlus notes it may be due to medicines such as antibiotics, birth control pills, sleeping pills and seizure medicines.

MedlinePlus adds an important caveat: abnormal results do not always mean you have a condition needing treatment, and higher than normal bilirubin can also be caused by some medicines, certain foods, or strenuous exercise.