Creatinine is an important measurement of renal function and it is the
metabolic product of muscle. For the patients with Renal Failure, as their
kidneys are damaged seriously, the kidneys can not excrete the creatinine
normally thus accumulating in the blood. In that case, the patients with Renal
Failure have to depend on dialysis to discharge the metabolic wastes out of
their body.
Therefore, the patients are concerned the question very much: at
what creatinine level they should start dialysis.
As we all know that the normal levels of creatinine levels of creatinine are
0.6~1.2 mg/dl in adult males and 0.5~1.0 mg/dl. If the person is born with only
with one kidney, his or her creatinine level is about 1.8~1.9 mg/dl. For the new
infants, the normal creatinine level is about 0.2 mg/dl for they nearly have no
muscle. Generally speaking, if the creatinine level reaches 2.0 mg/dl in infants
and 5mg/dl in adult patients, they are recommended to start dialysis. However,
as different countries and even different labs have different normal reference
level of creatinine, the creatinine level for starting dialysis may have slight
difference. Moreover, when to start dialysis also should depend on a
comprehensive index. If the patients have serious complications such as anemia,
vomit, nausea and so on, they may start dialysis at a lower creatinine level
than the above mentioned. Moreover, if Renal Failure is caused by Diabetes, the
patients should start dialysis earlier for the patients with Diabetic
Nephropathy usually are complicated with a series of complications and also
their creatinine level can not reflect their disease condition very well.
In order to protect the residual renal function, generally the patients with
Renal Failure are advocated to start dialysis at an early time if they can
afford it. However, as it can disorder their normal routine life and cause many
serious complications, it is usually rejected by most of the patients. In recent
years, with the medicine development, it is possible for the patients to avoid
dialysis if they can receive proper treatment in time.