C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

Key Points

• CRP is a sensitive acute-phase reactant that rises with inflammation.
• CRP can increase within hours after infection or inflammatory activation.
• In severe bacterial infection, CRP may rise dramatically.
• CRP is nonspecific and must be interpreted with clinical findings.

Clinical Interpretation

Reference Range

• Typical adult reference range: less than about 5 mg/L (lab-method dependent).

CRP supports early detection of inflammatory activity and can rise before overt fever or pain. Because many conditions can elevate CRP, trend direction and overall clinical picture determine significance.

Nursing Considerations

• Pair CRP trends with vital signs, exam findings, and source-focused diagnostics.
• Escalate rapidly when CRP rise accompanies deterioration cues.
• Use repeat measurements to evaluate response after treatment starts.

Related Concepts

• erythrocyte-sedimentation-rate-esr - ESR and CRP are complementary nonspecific inflammation markers.
• sepsis - CRP trend may support early infection severity recognition.
• inflammatory-response-and-fever - CRP reflects acute inflammatory signaling.