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Child-Pugh Score

Classify hepatic impairment severity from 5 lab and clinical values to guide dose adjustment.

Pharmily+

Child-Pugh classifies how severe a patient's liver disease is, using 5 values — and directly tells you when to review a patient's medications for hepatic dose adjustment. See How Calculator Tools Work for the shared layout.

Inputs

Each of the 5 is scored 1–3 points; total score is out of 15:

Value1 point2 points3 points
Bilirubin< 2 mg/dL2–3 mg/dL> 3 mg/dL
Albumin> 3.5 g/dL2.8–3.5 g/dL< 2.8 g/dL
INR< 1.71.7–2.2> 2.2
AscitesNoneMildModerate/severe
EncephalopathyNoneGrade 1–2Grade 3–4

Bilirubin also accepts μmol/L and converts automatically (÷17.1).

You don't need all 5 values to get a result. Any value you leave blank is scored at the minimum (1 point) and listed under "estimated from available data" in the result — useful when a recent lab panel is incomplete, but treat that result as a floor, not a precise score.

Reading the result

ScoreClass1-year survival
5–6A100%
7–9B80%
10–15C45%

Class B or C triggers a recommendation to review hepatic dose adjustments for all of the patient's current medications — use Hepatic Dose Adjustment for the drug-by-drug guidance, carried over directly from this result. Class C additionally warns that many drugs are outright contraindicated at that severity, and recommends specialist consultation rather than dose adjustment alone.

Reference

Pugh RN et al. Br J Surg. 1973;60(8):646-649.