You are here: Urology Textbook > Kidneys > Renal insufficiency > Acute renal injury
Acute Kidney Injury – Acute Renal Failure (1/2)
- Acute kidney injury – acute renal failure (1/2): causes, pathophysiology and symptoms
- Acute kidney injury – acute renal failure (2/2): Diagnosis and treatment
Review literature: (Klahr and Miller, 1998) (Lameire et al, 2005) (Schrier and Wang, 2004 ) (Thadhani et al, 1996).
Definition of Acute Kidney Injury
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an abrupt (within 48 hours) worsening in kidney function with an increase in serum creatinine. Acute kidney injury is classified according to table AKIN classifikation of acute kidney injury.
Definitions of Urine Output
The urine output alone is not a good parameter to predict renal function, as acute renal failure may be present with polyuria, oliguria or anuria.
- Oliguria: less than 500 ml urine per 24 h or <0,5 ml per kg body weight per h.
- Anuria: less than 100 ml urine per 24 h or <50 ml/m2/h
Epidemiology of Acute Kidney Injury
Community acquired AKI:
Incidence 2 per 1000 per year in Europe.Hospital acquired AKI:
10–20% of hospital patients suffer from acute kidney failure and up to 35–60% of patients admitted on intensive care units. On ICU, mortality increases to 60% when dialysis becomes necessary (Alscher et al, 2019).
Etiology of Acute Kidney Injury
Prerenal AKI
Worsening of kidney function due to poor kidney conditions (55% of all AKI). The most common reason is decreased renal blood flow, by definition there is no kidney disease or urinary drainage disorder.
Intravascular volume depletion:
Trauma, burns, bleeding, allergic shock, sepsis, pancreatitis, dehydration.
Decreased cardiac output:
Acute heart diseases such as myocardial ischemia or other heart diseases (cardiorenal syndrome), pulmonary embolism or decreased cardiac output due to mechanical ventilation.
Decreased renal blood flow:
Medication with ACE inhibitors or NSAID, anesthesia, hepatorenal syndrome, hyperviscosity syndrome in multiple myeloma or polycythemia.
Renal Kidney Failure
The failure of renal function is due to renal diseases (45% of all AKI).
Renal vessel diseases:
Microvascular diseases:
- rapid-progressive glomerulonephritis
- Goodpasture's syndrome
- postinfectious glomerulonephritis
- polyarteritis nodosa
- Wegener's granulomatosis
- systemic lupus erythemathodes
- Henoch-Schonlein purpura
- essential cryoglobulinemia
- hemolytic-uremic syndrome
- thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
- disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
Tubulointerstitial diseases:
- allergic interstitial nephritis caused by drugs (beta-lactams, NSAID, thiazides, ACE inhibitors, allopurinol, cimetidine).
- serious bacterial infections such as pyelonephritis or viral diseases such as CMV
- leukemic infiltration
- idiopathic
Acute tubular necrosis:
Ischemia or toxic substances cause tubular epithelial damage, worsening of kidney function is exacerbated by necrotic cells that clog the tubules. Kidney function may recover after the cells have been repaired.
In the case of toxic substances, tubular necrosis is caused either by ischemia (e.g. vasoconstriction by contrast medium) or direct cell damage (e.g. cisplatin). Further toxic substances are aminoglycosides, antibiotics, antifungals, chemotherapeutics, chemicals (heavy metals, solvents, insecticides), drugs (heroin, amphetamines) or D-penicillamine. Endogenous causes are free hemoglobin (hemolysis) or myoglobin (rhabdomyolysis).
Postrenal Kidney Failure
Postrenal kidney failure is the worsening of kidney function due to insufficient urine drainage (5% of all AKI).
- Bilateral diseases of the ureters:
- malignant obstruction
- Ormond disease (retroperitoneal fibrosis)
- ureteral stones
- bleeding disorders
- Urinary retention:
- benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
- prostate cancer
- neurogenic bladder disorders
- Urethral stricture
- posterior urethral valves
- phimosis
Pathophysiology of Acute Kidney Injury
Excess of Extracellular Fluid Volume
Acute kidney injury causes a reduced salt and water excretion. This leads to weight gain, dyspnea and pulmonary edema.
Hyperkalemia
Potassium increases 0.5 mmol/l/day during anuria. Additional cell disintegration (tumor lysis, hemolysis, rhabdomyolysis) leads to particularly serious hyperkalaemia.
Metabolic Acidosis
Diminished excretion of protons leads to metabolic acidosis. Acidosis can be aggravated by corresponding underlying diseases: diabetic ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis, liver diseases and tissue ischemia.
Hyperphosphatemia and Hypocalcemia
Hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia develops due to secondary hyperparathyroidism.
Anemia
Acute kidney injury leads to a decreased renal erythropoietin secretion, hemodilution and decreased survival of erythrocytes. The risk of bleeding is increased due to dysfunction of thrombocytes.
Signs and Symptoms of Acute Kidney Injury
Uremia resulting from acute renal failure causes non-specific complaints. The underlying disease for the acute kidney injury is crucial for most of the symptoms.
Symptoms of Prerenal Kidney Failure
- thirst, decreased skin turgor
- oliguria or anuria
- hypotension, tachycardia
- signs and symptoms of underlying diseases such as trauma, cardiac diseases or dehydration
Symptoms of Renal Kidney Failure
Usually, a risk situation for renal ischemia or toxic renal damage is observable.
Symptoms of Postrenal Kidney Failure
Flank pain, abdominal pain or neurological symptoms are suspicious for a postrenal kidney failure.
Symptoms due to Complications of Acute Kidney Injury
- dyspnea (pulmonary edema)
- arrhythmia (hyperkalemia)
- gastrointestinal bleeding
- hypotension and shock (infections, metabolic acidosis)
- coma and death (metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, uremia)
- polyuria and electrolyte imbalance after recovery of renal function
Kidney diseases | Index | ARF Treatment |
Index: 1–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
References
- Klahr und Miller 1998 KLAHR, S. ; MILLER, S. B.:
- Acute oliguria.
In: N Engl J Med
338 (1998), Nr. 10, S. 671–5
- Lameire u.a. 2005 LAMEIRE, N. ; VAN BIESEN, W. ; VANHOLDER, R.:
- Acute renal failure.
In: Lancet
365 (2005), Nr. 9457, S. 417–30
- Mehta, R. L.; Kellum, J. A.; Shah, S. V.; Molitoris, B. A.; Ronco, C.; Warnock, D. G.; Levin, A. & AKIN
- Acute
Kidney Injury Network: report of an initiative to improve outcomes in
acute kidney injury.
Crit Care, 2007, 11, R31. - Schrier und Wang 2004 SCHRIER, R. W. ; WANG, W.:
- Acute renal failure and sepsis.
In: N Engl J Med
351 (2004), Nr. 2, S. 159–69
- Thadhani u.a. 1996 THADHANI, R. ; PASCUAL, M. ; BONVENTRE, J. V.:
- Acute renal failure.
In: N Engl J Med
334 (1996), Nr. 22, S. 1448–60
Deutsche Version: Akute Niereninsuffizienz