ABSTRACT
Intravenous administration of iodinated radiographic contrast media has been known to have nephrotoxic side effects especially patients with renal disorders. Ideally, each patient should have serum creatinine measured before administering the contrast media. This is costly in termed of time and finance and is not practical in our situation here at Siriraj Hospital. The aim of this study is to determine whether serum creatinine levels correlate with the patient's underlying risk factors. The data were collected from 81 patients who were sent for computed tomographic examination. 63 patients (77.78%) were found to have underlying risk factors. These included hypertension 21 cases (33.33%), diabetes mellitus 18 cases (28.57%), administration of chemotoxic drugs 13 cases (20.64%), renal disease 4 cases (6.35%), high serum uric acid 4 cases (6.35%), AIDS 2 cases (3.17%), and ACEI 1 case (1.59%). Of these, only 5 cases (6.17%) were found to have abnormally high serum creatinine levels (over 2 mg/dl), all had underlying risk factors and were over 60 years old.