Renal Flashcards
What are the 6 functions of the kidney?
- regulation of extracellular fluid volume and BP
- regulation of blood osmolarity
- maintenance of ion balance
- homeostatic regulation of plasma pH
- excretion metabolic + other wastes
- hormone activity
What is creatinine?
- undergoes complete glomerular filtration with very little reabsorption and so is a useful indicator of GFR
- the metabolic waste product of creatine metabolism in muscles
- measured by lab tests
What is the cockroft and gault formula?
(140 - age) x weight (kg) x F
serum creatinine
F = 1.04 (female) 1.23 (male)
What are the 2 pros of cockroft and gault?
- easy to calculate in practice
- in use for many years
What are the 2 cons of cockroft and gault?
- based on limited variables
- increasing rates of obesity meaning weight is no longer accurate of muscle mass
What is the 1 pro of MDRD?
- better estimate than C+G
What are the 2 cons of MDRD?
- more difficult in practice
- not routinely used in clinical practice
What are the 2 pros of CKD-EPI?
- best estimate of GFR
- version available using cystatin C for patients with loss of muscle mass
What is the 1 con of CKD-EPI?
- complex to calculate
What is AKI?
Acute kidney injury - a sudden reduction in function which is often asymptomatic
What are the 5 signs and symptoms of AKI?
- acidosis
- oedema
- reduced urine output
- hyperkalaemia
- toxicity of medicines with narrow therapeutic window
What are the 6 risk factors of AKI?
- CKD
- HF
- liver disease
- diabetes
- oliguria
- neurological impairment
What are the 4 ways that AKI managed?
- treat the cause
- optimise meds
- maintain good hydration
- RRT
What are the 4 ways that AKI can be prevented in hospitals?
- ACEi/ARBs should be discontinued on the day of admin of bowel preparations and withheld for 72 hours
- diuretics should be discontinued on the day pf admin of oral and bowel preparation and witheld for 24 hrs
- ACEi/ARBs should be withheld peri-operatively
- monitor fluid balance
What are the 2 ways that AKI can be prevented in community?
monitoring of:
- conditions leading to dehydration
- drugs with nephrotoxic potential
What are the critical care acuity levels 0-3?
0 - needs met through normal ward care
1 - patients at risk of deterioration
2 - patients requiring detailed observation, including support for a single failing organ system
3 - patients requiring advanced respiratory support or basic support with at least two failing organ systems
Who comes to critical care?
Post-operative:
- Elective surgical patients (prolonged or major surgery such as laparotomy)
- Emergency
Serious short term condition
- Cardiac arrest -> likely requiring intubation; temperature management (cooling); blood pressure support
- Overdose / poisoning
Serious infections: sepsis or severe pneumonia
Shock: circulatory or septic
Trauma
Pancreatitis
Renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT)
Severe neurological conditions
- Guilliain-Barré
How can you quickly assess a patient in the ICU?
Can the patient talk to you
Organ failure
- Are they on a ventilator
- How many syringes have they got running
- Look at the monitor (The more on the monitor the sicker the patient)
- Are they on the filter
What tubes have they got in
- NG (Free drainage or for administration; is there a bag on the end or spigotted)
- NJ
- Do they have parenteral nutrition
- Drains / Urine output (Are they bleeding?)