Does Dehydration Cause Elevated Serum Creatinine Levels?

Posted on Thu, 6 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 6 Oct 2016 Answered on

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Does serum creatinine go up when a person is dehydrated?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
yes it does..

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXX, Welcome to HCM,
I've gone through your query and understand your concern,

Yes, body has it's own compensatory action, and can only compensate up to an extent (varies from person to person) of dehydration, and after that, serum creatinine starts going up as dehydration (both acute as well as chronic) further progresses ..

Hope this answers your query..do let me know in case of any further queries..

Wish you good health

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Arnab (1 hour later)

At a urine specific gravity of 1.03 , would that level of dehydration cause an increse in serum creatinine?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
follow-up consultation..

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX, Welcome back,

First of all, please note that urine specific gravity carries no signifance in this regard..

Your asking about level of dehydration, and the easiest and non-invasive way to calculate is by calculating the free water deficit in the body and/ hypovolemia, this is done by -

Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) for Clinical Deterioration where you need to be examined for the vital parameters i.e. Systolic Blood Pressure, Heart rate, Respiratory Rate, Temperature and AVPU score followed by a complete Renal function assay i.e. BUN, Creatinine, serum Sodium and urinary Sodium, fractional excretion of sodium..

If Serum Sodium shows picture of hypernatremia(Na >145 mmol/L), then the free water deficit can be calculated by [ FreeWater Deficit (Adult Male) = 0.6 x weight (kg) x (current NA / 140-1)] , and FW Deficit (Elderly Male) = 0.5 x weight (kg) x (current NA / 140-1) ..

Even if this is not absolutely conclusive then invasive methods like Cardiac output, Pulmonary arterial pressure monitoring combining with non-invasive IVC (Inferior vena cava) assessment can be done..

So, as you can see, these involve, complex calculations and serial monitoring along with thorough clinical examination by an experienced Doctor(Physician/Intensivist/Nephrologist/Cardiologist- either one of them or team approach whichever facilitates), then only it'll be ascertained if this is causing any increase in the serum creatinine..

Feel free to discuss further..

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee