Renal & Electrolytes

Corrected Sodium (Hyperglycemia) Calculator

Sodium adjusted for high glucose, which pulls water out of cells and lowers the measured sodium; shows the true sodium in DKA and HHS.

Reviewed by Alex G, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN, CMC, NREMT-P · From the Reference tab of the app

Turn on JavaScript to use this calculator, or open it in the web app.

Formula

Corrected Na = Measured Na + [1.6 × (Glucose - 100) / 100]

How it is used

• Hyperglycemia draws water into the extracellular space, artificially diluting serum sodium.
• Use the corrected sodium to guide IV fluid selection in DKA and HHS.

Same formula as the app. Open it in the web app.

Related one-pagers

• BurnsHyperglycemia without diabetes · >200 mg/dL untreated, or insulin >7 units/h
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• Sedation, Pain and Delirium ScalesPain, anxiety and agitation drive a catecholamine surge: tachycardia, hypertension, higher oxygen consumption, hyperglycemia and catabolism. Deep sedation blunts it at the cost of ventilator days, delirium, pneumonia and ICU-acquired weakness. In an Australian and New Zealand cohort (Shehabi 2012), deep sedation in the first 48 h independently predicted later extubation and higher hospital and 180-day mortality, so day-1 depth matters.
• CEN Mental Health: Crisis, Suicide Risk, Eating Disorders and AbuseCaffeine (Willson 2018): a Red Bull can holds about 80 mg and a Monster about 160 mg, and one 473 mL product held 357 mg. Roughly 1 g may cause toxic symptoms, 2 g may need hospital care and 5 g or more is typically lethal; tachycardia is near universal above 10 mg/kg. Mild toxicity is irritability, palpitations, nausea, tremor and sweating; severe toxicity brings ventricular arrhythmias (VF is the usual cause of death), seizures, rhabdomyolysis and kidney injury. Labs show hypokalemia, hyperglycemia and metabolic acidosis. Care is supportive: cardiac monitoring and a 12-lead, potassium replacement, benzodiazepines for agitation, seizures and supraventricular tachycardia, isotonic fluid for hypotension, activated charcoal ideally within 1 to 2 h, and hemodialysis for severe cases, with the poison center involved. Willson reserves esmolol or propranolol for refractory hypotension and lists amiodarone, lidocaine or procainamide for ventricular arrhythmia, so rate and rhythm drugs are the provider's call once the rhythm is identified. The general approach to sympathomimetic toxicity is on Toxicology and Antidotes.

Related calculators

• Anion Gap
• BUN/Cr Ratio
• Corrected Calcium
• Creatinine Clearance (Cockcroft-Gault)
• CRRT Effluent Dose (mL/kg/h)
• Fractional Excretion of Sodium (FENa)
• Fractional Excretion of Urea (FEUrea)
• Free Water Deficit

For education and exam preparation only. Follow your institution’s protocols. For education and exam preparation only. Verify results independently and follow your institution’s protocols. Not a substitute for clinical judgment.