tion’, implying that most patients ‘should’ receive a particular action. In contrast, level 2 guidelines are essentially ‘suggestions’ and are deemed to be ‘weak’ or discretionary, recognising that management decisions may vary in different clinical contexts. Each recommendation was further graded from A to D by the quality of evidence underpinning them, with grade A referring to a high quality of evidence whilst grade D recognised a ‘very low’ evidence base. The overall strength and quality of the supporting evidence is summarised in table 1 . The guidelines focused on 4 key domains: (1) AKI definition, (2) prevention and treatment of AKI, (3) contrastinduced AKI (CI-AKI) and (4) dialysis interventions for the treatment of AKI. The full summary of clinical practice statements is available at www.kdigo.org, but a few key recommendation statements will be highlighted here.

/pdf/kdigo-clinical-practice-guidelines-for-acute-kidney-injury-27tybolw7l.pdf

KDIGO clinical practice guidelines for acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex disorder for which currently there is no accepted definition. Having a uniform standard for diagnosing and classifying AKI would enhance our ability to manage these patients. Future clinical and translational research in AKI will require collaborative networks of investigators drawn from various disciplines, dissemination of information via multidisciplinary joint conferences and publications, and improved translation of knowledge from pre-clinical research. We describe an initiative to develop uniform standards for defining and classifying AKI and to establish a forum for multidisciplinary interaction to improve care for patients with or at risk for AKI. Members representing key societies in critical care and nephrology along with additional experts in adult and pediatric AKI participated in a two day conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in September 2005 and were assigned to one of three workgroups. Each group's discussions formed the basis for draft recommendations that were later refined and improved during discussion with the larger group. Dissenting opinions were also noted. The final draft recommendations were circulated to all participants and subsequently agreed upon as the consensus recommendations for this report. Participating societies endorsed the recommendations and agreed to help disseminate the results. The term AKI is proposed to represent the entire spectrum of acute renal failure. Diagnostic criteria for AKI are proposed based on acute alterations in serum creatinine or urine output. A staging system for AKI which reflects quantitative changes in serum creatinine and urine output has been developed. We describe the formation of a multidisciplinary collaborative network focused on AKI. We have proposed uniform standards for diagnosing and classifying AKI which will need to be validated in future studies. The Acute Kidney Injury Network offers a mechanism for proceeding with efforts to improve patient outcomes.

/pdf/acute-kidney-injury-network-report-of-an-initiative-to-4dlxa7i1ph.pdf

Acute Kidney Injury Network: Report of an Initiative to Improve Outcomes in Acute Kidney Injury

Acute Kidney Injury Network: report of an initiative to improve outcomes in acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury

Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock

https://www.kidney-international.org/article/S0085-2538(15)50726-6/pdf

Regional citrate versus systemic heparin anticoagulation for continuous renal replacement in critically ill patients

Acute kidney injury remains a serious clinical problem for intensive care unit patients, and its incidence is rising. The detection and diagnosis of acute kidney injury in the intensive care unit currently require use of conventional markers of kidney function, specifically, serum creatinine and urea levels and, less frequently, other urinary tests. These conventional markers are familiar to clinicians and have long been used at the bedside. However, these markers are clearly not ideal, each has limitations, and none reflect real-time changes in glomerular filtration rate or a genuine acute injurious process to the kidney. More importantly, these conventional markers can contribute to delays in recognition of acute kidney injury and, hence, delays to appropriate supportive and therapeutic interventions. The early detection and diagnosis of acute kidney injury should be a clinical priority. A diagnostic test or panel of tests that are capable of evaluating aspects both of kidney function and acute injury are desperately needed in critical care nephrology. Cystatin C has been shown superior to conventional markers and may assume a greater role in intensive care unit patients for detecting both early changes in glomerular filtration rate and evidence of acute injury. Other newly characterized markers of kidney function or acute injury have the potential to revolutionized the field of critical care nephrology and greatly improve the supportive and therapeutic management of intensive care unit patients with acute kidney injury.

Conventional markers of kidney function

Comparison of Work of Breathing on High Gas Flow and Demand Valve Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Systems

Purpose of review Our purpose is to discuss established risk factors in the development of acute renal failure and briefly overview clinical markers and preventive measures. Recent findings Findings from the literature support the role of older age, diabetes, underlying renal insufficiency, and heart failure as predisposing factors for acute renal failure. Diabetics with baseline renal insufficiency represent the highest risk subgroup. An association between sepsis, hypovolemia, and acute renal failure is clear. Liver failure, rhabdomyolysis, and open-heart surgery (especially valve replacement) are clinical conditions potentially leading to acute renal failure. Increasing evidence shows that intraabdominal hypertension may contribute to the development of acute renal failure. Radiocontrast and antimicrobial agents are the most common causes of nephrotoxic acute renal failure. In terms of prevention, avoiding nephrotoxins when possible is certainly desirable; fluid therapy is an effective prevention measure in certain clinical circumstances. Supporting cardiac output, mean arterial pressure, and renal perfusion pressure are indicated to reduce the risk for acute renal failure. Nonionic, isoosmolar intravenous contrast should be used in high-risk patients. Although urine output and serum creatinine lack sensitivity and specificity in acute renal failure, they remain the most used parameters in clinical practice. Summary There are identified risk factors of acute renal failure. Because acute renal failure is associated with a worsening outcome, particularly if occurring in critical illness and if severe enough to require renal replacement therapy, preventive measures should be part of appropriate management.

Risk factors for acute renal failure: inherent and modifiable risks

Rationale. Few studies have evaluated the epidemiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) in trauma. Objective. To evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with early AKI (evident within 24 hours of admission) in critically ill trauma patients. Methods. A retrospective interrogation of prospectively collected data from the Australian New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database. A total of 9,449 trauma patients were admitted for ≥24 hours to 57 intensive care units across Australia from January 1st, 2000, to December 31st, 2005. Main Findings. The crude incidence of AKI was 18.1% (n = 1,711). Older age, female sex (OR 1.60, 95% CI, 1.43–1.78, p < 0.0001), and the presence of co-morbid illness (OR 2.70, 95% CI 2.3–3.2, p < 0.0001) were associated with higher odds of AKI. Those with trauma not associated with brain injury (OR 2.40, 95% CI, 2.1–2.7, p < 0.0001) and a higher illness severity (OR 1.12, 95% CI, 1.11–1.12, p < 0.001) also had higher likelihood of AKI. Overall, AKI was...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08860220802134649

R. T. Noel Gibney

Papers

Regional citrate versus systemic heparin anticoagulation for continuous renal replacement in critically ill patients

Conventional markers of kidney function

Comparison of Work of Breathing on High Gas Flow and Demand Valve Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Systems

Risk factors for acute renal failure: inherent and modifiable risks

A multi-center evaluation of early acute kidney injury in critically ill trauma patients.