Creatinine Clearance Calculator
- The Creatinine Clearance calculator is also known as CrCl calculator used to measure the amount of creatinine in your body which is a measure of kidney function.
- The results of the Creatinine Clearance Calculator calculator should never be used alone to determine a patient’s medical treatment.
- The Creatinine Clearance Calculator helps provide information about how well the kidneys are working.
- It will help to understand the creatinine level in urine with the creatinine level in blood.
- Other important factors that must be considered include the patient’s medical history and experience, knowledge, and patient’s body type.
- Doctors should personally discuss these results with patients when presenting prognoses or treatment recommendations.
Steps To Calculate Creatinine Clearance Calculator
Here are 5 steps to calculate Creatinine Clearance Calculator:
- Enter the Age
- Choose Sex: Male or Female
- Enter the Height & Weight
- Enter Serum Creatinine
- Check Creatinine Clearance Calculation
Here is a formula to calculate Creatinine Clearance Calculator using Cockcroft-Gault Formula
Creatinine Clearance = [(140-age) x (Wt in kg) x (0.85 if female)] / (72 x Cr)
Creatinine Clearance Reference Range
Adult (< 40 years) reference ranges for creatinine clearance are as follows :
- Male: 107-139 mL/min or 1.78-2.32 mL/s (SI units)
Creatinine Clearance Normal Range
Clearance is often measured as milliliters per minute (mL/min) or milliliters per second (mL/s). Normal values are:
- Male: 97 to 137 mL/min (1.65 to 2.33 mL/s).
- Female: 88 to 128 mL/min (1.496 to 2.18 mL/s).
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Some labs use different measurements or test different samples. Talk to your doctor to know about the meaning of your specific test results.

What Abnormal Results Mean
Abnormal results (lower than normal creatinine clearance) may indicate:
- Kidney problems, such as damage to the tubule cells
- Kidney failure
- Too little blood flow to the kidneys
- Damage to the filtering units of the kidneys
- Loss of body fluids (dehydration)
- Bladder outlet obstruction
- Heart failure
Calculate Creatinine Clearance
- Creatinine clearance is a measure of the amount of creatinine (a waste product) that is cleared from the blood by the kidneys.
- It is often used as an estimate of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is a measure of kidney function.
- The creatinine clearance is typically calculated using a formula that takes into account the creatinine level in the blood, the patient's age, sex, weight, and the patient's urine output.
- The result is usually reported in milliliters per minute.
- A creatinine clearance test is often ordered to assess kidney function and to monitor patients with kidney disease or other conditions that affect the kidneys.
How Is a Creatinine Test Done
There are two main ways doctors use creatinine tests to measure kidney function:
Urine test
- GFR can be estimated by measuring the amount of creatinine in a sample of pee collected over 24 hours.
- For this method, you store all your urine in a plastic jug for one day and then bring it in for testing.
- This method is inconvenient and is now often done anymore, but it may be necessary to diagnose some kidney conditions.
Blood test
- Doctors can estimate GFR using a single blood level of creatinine, which they enter into a formula.
- Different formulas take into account your age and sex, and older formulas may use race/ethnicity.
- The higher the blood creatinine level, the lower the estimated GFR.
Reason For Creatinine Tests
Doctors use serum creatinine and eGFR to check how well your kidneys work. As kidney function gets worse, GFR also goes down.
Your doctor may also order a creatinine test if you have symptoms of kidney disease, including:
- Nausea
- Throwing up
- A loss of appetite
- Tiredness and weakness
- Trouble sleeping
- Changes in how much you pee
- Swollen feet and ankles
Medications that Modify Serum Creatinine
Because serum creatinine undergoes tubular secretion, any medications that interfere with this process will falsely elevate the patient's serum creatinine; however, this will not impact the patient's true GFR. The following medications have been shown to falsely elevate serum creatinine:
- Cefoxitin
- Cimetidine
- Cisplatin
- Flucytosine
- Trimethoprim
Populations that are Difficult to Estimate
Certain patient groups have dramatically different serum creatinine production or elimination compared to the normal patient population. The following groups are notoriously difficult to estimate true renal function:
- Amputation - Falsely low serum creatinine due to less production from muscle mass
- Burn injury - Increased GFR
- Cirrhosis - Falsely low serum creatinine due to less muscle mass and reduced hepatic conversion of creatine to creatinine
- Cystic fibrosis - Increased GFR
- Muscle disorders - Muscular dystrophy and other muscle disorders that can cause cachexia
- Pregnancy - Difficult to estimate lean body mass, increased GFR
- Unstable renal function - Equations used to estimate unstable renal function are very old and not validated in a large patient population
Creatinine Clearance Risks
There is little risk involved with having your blood taken. Veins and arteries vary in size from one person to another and from one side of the body to the other. Taking blood from some people may be more difficult than from others.
Other risks associated with having blood drawn are slight, but may include:
- Excessive bleeding
- Fainting or feeling lightheaded
- Multiple punctures to locate veins
- Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
- Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)
Summary
Overall, Creatinine Clearance Calculator helps provide information about how well the kidneys are working or any problem person will face related to that. Check More Medical Health Related Calculator on Drlogy Calculator to get exact health solutions.
Reference
- Creatinine Clearance - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf [1].
- Creatinine Clearance - Health Encyclopedia - URMC [2].