Sodium Correction Rate Calculator

About this calculator

When serum sodium is corrected too quickly in someone with chronic hyponatremia, water shifts rapidly out of brain cells and can trigger a rare but serious complication called osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS). To avoid this, treatment guidelines commonly reference a maximum safe rate of correction — often cited as roughly 8 to 10 mEq/L within any 24-hour period.

Given a current sodium level, a target level, and a chosen maximum daily change, the underlying calculation is simple division: the total sodium change needed divided by the maximum allowed daily rate gives the minimum number of days (or hours) over which correction should be spread.

This calculator only performs that arithmetic — it does not account for the individual clinical factors (such as underlying cause, symptom severity, or volume status) that guide actual correction protocols, and any real treatment plan should be set and monitored by a clinician.