Kidney failure is a worldwide health crisis. About 10% of the world’s population is affected by kidney failure. The number of cases are increasing disproportionately in developing countries such as China and India. But, prompt diagnosis and treatment of acute kidney failure can cut death rates.
Acute kidney failure occurs when your kidneys abruptly lose its function of filtering waste products from the blood. Due to this, waste products accumulate in the blood leading to loss of homeostasis. This condition has an acute onset that develops rapidly within few days. It is most common in hospitalized people who are critically ill.
The signs and symptoms of kidney failure depend on the various disturbances occurring in the kidney function due to the disease.
Follow your doctor’s recommendations and adhere to the treatment plan. Consult your dietitian to have a special diet plan that supports your kidneys and limits its function.
Individuals with hospitalization and advancing age are more prone to acute kidney failure. The risk increases if you have peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, heart diseases, kidney diseases, or liver diseases.
Pulmonary edema, hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis, and heart damage are the life-threatening complications that require immediate interventions.
In some cases, acute kidney failure leads to permanent damage of kidneys causing chronic kidney failure or end-stage renal disease. In such conditions, your doctor may recommend permanent dialysis or kidney transplantation.
The chances of occurring premature death also increase. The risk increases if there are any kidney problems before the development of acute kidney failure.
Therefore, these people should regularly be monitored for the development of chronic kidney disease.
The percentage of morbidity and mortality is high in acute kidney failure. So, there is a need to identify people who are at risk and implement preventive strategies.
The diagnosis helps to know the underlying cause of the condition and provide appropriate treatment. Tests and procedures your doctor may recommend for diagnosis include:
Urine output measurements -to measure creatinine clearance.In some cases, you doctor may recommend for renal biopsy to rule out the intrinsic cause of acute kidney failure.
Acute kidney failure occurs due to the following reasons:
Decreased blood flow (prerenal) - This is due to conditions such as low blood volume, low blood pressure, heart failure, liver failure, burns, dehydration, surgeries and use of medications such as naproxen and aspirin.The goal of the therapy is to restore kidney function and prevent complications. A kidney specialist, called nephrologist, provides you the treatment. The treatment requires a hospital stay, but most of the people with kidney failure are already hospitalized. The length of the hospital stay depends on the underlying cause and the recovery.
Treatment is given to encounter the illness or injury that is damaging the kidneys. Treatment options depend on the cause of the kidney failure.
Supportive management