Corrected Potassium Calculator

About this calculator

Blood pH shifts change how potassium moves between blood plasma and body cells, so a measured serum potassium level can look artificially high or low if a patient's blood is more acidic or alkaline than the normal reference pH of 7.4. Corrected potassium adjusts the measured value back to what it would likely read at pH 7.4, using K_corrected = measured K + 0.6 × ((pH − 7.4) / 0.1) — for every 0.1 drop in pH below 7.4, potassium is corrected upward by 0.6 mEq/L, and vice versa for higher pH.

This correction is used in clinical chemistry and critical care, where a patient's arterial blood gas and electrolyte panel are often drawn together, so clinicians can tell whether an abnormal potassium reading reflects a true electrolyte imbalance or is simply an artifact of acidosis or alkalosis shifting potassium across cell membranes. It's a bedside sanity check rather than a replacement for clinical judgment, and any corrected value should always be interpreted alongside the patient's full clinical picture.