What’s wrong with slightly elevated total bilirubin and indirect bilirubin?

Slightly elevated total and indirect bilirubin suggests the possibility of hepatobiliary diseases, hematologic disorders, other diseases, and physiologic etiology. 1. Hepatobiliary diseases: e.g. hepatocellular jaundice, acute hepatic necrosis, acute jaundice hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis, etc. 2. Blood diseases: such as hemolytic anemia, acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, hypersplenism, etc. 3. Other diseases: such as severe burns, sepsis, malaria, etc. 4. Physiological etiology: e.g. pregnancy, strenuous exercise, hunger strike, oral contraceptives, etc. The total bilirubin value is obtained by adding the direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin values. A slight increase in both values is considered to be due to physiological causes, while a significant increase suggests that the patient may be suffering from a disease. Therefore, if the total bilirubin and indirect bilirubin are found to be elevated, it is necessary to undergo a series of tests to determine the cause of the disease and to treat it in a timely manner.