• Esther Peters, Massimo Antonelli, Xavier Wittebole, Rahul Nanchal, Bruno François, Yasser Sakr, Jean-Louis Vincent, and Peter Pickkers.
• Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, HP:710, PO Box 9101, 6500, HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
• Crit Care. 2018 Aug 3; 22 (1): 188.

BackgroundAcute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of critical illness and is associated with worse outcomes. However, the influence of deterioration or improvement in renal function on clinical outcomes is unclear. Using a large international database, we evaluated the prevalence and evolution of AKI over a 7-day period and its effects on clinical outcomes in septic and non-septic critically ill patients worldwide.MethodsFrom the 10,069 adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients in the Intensive Care Over Nations database, all those with creatinine and urine output data were included in this substudy. Patients who developed sepsis during the ICU stay (≥ 2 days after admission) were excluded. AKI was evaluated within 72 hours after admission and before discharge/death up to day 7 according to the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria.ResultsA total of 7970 patients were included, 59% of whom met AKIN criteria for AKI within the first 72 hours of the ICU stay. Twenty-four per cent of patients had sepsis on admission, of whom 68% had AKI, compared to 57% of those without sepsis on admission (p < 0.001). AKIN stage 3 (40% vs 24%, p < 0.001) and use of renal replacement therapy (20% vs 5%, p < 0.0001) were more prevalent in patients with sepsis. Patients with sepsis and AKIN stage 3 were less likely to improve to a lower stage during the 7-day follow-up period than non-septic patients with AKIN stage 3 (21% vs 32%, p < 0.0001). In-hospital mortality was related to severity of AKI and was reduced in patients in whom AKI improved compared to those who remained stable or deteriorated, but remained higher than in patients without AKI, even if there was apparent full recovery at day 7.ConclusionThese findings illustrate the different kinetics of AKI in septic and non-septic ICU patients and emphasize the important impact of AKI on mortality rates even when there is apparent full renal recovery at day 7.

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