Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients

Acute kidney injury is a common disease that affects critically ill patients and increases morbidity and mortality. Even though there have been extensive efforts to prevent this disease, the incidence has steadily increased over the last decade. This could be attributed to better recognition or to overestimation of the disease based on the most recent consensus criteria. Complications of acute kidney injury have a significant effect on quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Despite advances in the field, this disease continues to be a challenge, and decreasing the mortality associated with it remains difficult. Plenty of literature has been published about the appropriate definition, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. One of the topics of ongoing discussion deals with the lack of consensus about the exact timing for initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT). Even though RRT adds more complexity to the treatment, recent publications suggest that early versus late initiation of RRT is related to reduced mortality in critically ill patients. Further high-level studies of this intervention are warranted to standardize treatment. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, and 77 references. Key words: Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN), acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO), renal biomarkers, replacement therapy, Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function and End-stage kidney disease (RIFLE)