Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a rapid loss of kidney function.
Its causes are numerous and include low blood volume from any cause, exposure to substances harmful to the kidney, and obstruction of the urinary tract. AKI is diagnosed on the basis of characteristic laboratory findings, such as elevated blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, or inability of the kidneys to produce sufficient amounts of urine.
AKI may lead to a number of complications, including metabolic acidosis, high potassium levels, uremia, changes in body fluid balance, and effects to other organ systems. Management includes supportive care, such as renal replacement therapy, as well as treatment of the underlying disorder.
Read more about Acute Kidney Injury: Signs and Symptoms, Causes, Classification, Treatment, Prognosis, Epidemiology, History
Famous quotes containing the words acute and/or injury:
“Lords and Commoners of England, consider what nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are the governors; a nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious and piercing spirit, acute to invent, subtle and sinewy to discourse, not beneath the reach of any point the highest that human capacity can soar to.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“To kill a human being is, after all, the least injury you can do him.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)