Acute Kidney Injury Flashcards
What are the functions of the kidneys?
- Body fluid homeostasis
- Regulation of vascular tone
- Excretory function
- Electrolyte homeostasis
- Acid-base homeostasis
- Endocrine function (erythropoietin, vitamin D)
What is the traditional definition of AKI?
- Rapid loss of glomerular filtration and tubular function over hours to days
- Retention of urea/creatinine
- Oliguric / non-oliguric
- Potentially recoverable
What classification system is used in AKI?
RIFLE
What system is currently used to stage AKI?
KDIGO
What are the stages in the development of AKI?
- Normal
- Increased risk
- Damage
- Decreased GFR
- Kidney failure
- Death
What are stages of AKI defined by?
Creatinine and urine output (GFR)
What is the incidence of AKI?
- 1 in 7 (some say 1 in 5) hospital admissions complicated by AKI
- Hospital admissions 1 in 5 to 7
- ITU admissions (more than half)
- In the Community (uncommon 1.5% per y)
What are the immediately dangerous consequences of AKI?
- Acidosis
- Electrolyte imbalance
- Intoxication TOXINS
- Overload
- Uraemic complications
What are the possible outcomes of AKI?
Short term (in hospital)
- Death
- Dialysis
- Length of stay
Intermediate/Long term (Post discharge)
- Death
- CKD
- Dialysis
- CKD related CV events
When is it too late in AKI?
Once creatinine reaches 400
What are the 3 classes of causes of AKI?
- Pre-renal (blood flow to the kidney)
- Renal (intrinsic) (damage to renal parenchyma)
- Post-renal (obstruction to urine exit)
What are the pre-renal causes of AKI?
Reduction in effective circulating volume
- Sepsis
- Hypovolaemia
- Hepatorenal syndrome
- Cardiac failure
- Hypotension
Arterial occlusion
Vasomotor
-NSAIDs/ACEI
What are the renal (intrinsic) causes of AKI?
- Acute tubular necrosis (ischaemia)
- Toxin related
- Acute interstitial nephritis
- Acute Glomerulonephritis
- Myeloma
- Intra-renal vascular obstruction (vasculitis and thrombotic microangiopathy)
What are the post-renal causes of AKI?
Obstruction
- Intraluminal (calculus, clot, sloughed papilla)
- Intramural (malignancy, ureteric stricture, radiation fibrosis, prostate disease)
- Extramural (RPF, malignancy)
What is the most common cause of AKI?
Poor perfusion leading to established tubule damage
What can sustained failure of circulation to the kidneys result in?
Acute tubular necrosis
What can exacerbate acute tubular necrosis?
Toxic injury
Why is the kidney susceptible to hypoperfusion?
- Intrarenal heterogeneity of blood supply, oxygenation and metabolic demand
- The cortex is richly perfused, whereas the medulla receives around 10-15% of renal blood flow
- Medulla hypoxic, yet metabolically active
What does the kidney have the potential to do after AKI?
Regenerate
Describe the course of acute ischaemic renal injury and recovery.
Initiation
- Exposure to toxic/ischaemic insult
- Renal parenchymal injury evolving
- AKI potentially preventable
Maintenance
- Established parenchymal injury
- Usually maximally oliguric now
- Typical duration 1-2 weeks (up to several months)
Recovery
- Gradual increase in urine output
- Fall in serum creatinine (may lag behind diuresis)
When may excessive diuresis result during the recovery of AKI?
If GFR recovers quicker than tubule resorptive capacity, excessive diuresis may result (eg post-obstructive natriuresis
What is radiocontrast nephropathy?
AKI following administration of iodinated contrast agent