ABSTRACT
Acute kidney injury is a clinical syndrome characterised by rapidly reduced excretory function (Davenport and Stevens, 2008). Few patients are admitted to hospital with kidney disease, but acute kidney injury (AKI, previously called ‘acute renal failure’) is a common, and often avoidable, complication of acute illness. Up to one-quarter of surgical patients develop AKI (Sykes and Cosgrove, 2007). With kidney injury complicating underlying disease, mortality is high – about half will die (Ympa et al., 2005). Chronic, and acute-on-chronic, kidney injury can also cause problems for patients, but usually either existing treatments will be continued or specialist nephrology input will be sought. This chapter, therefore, focuses on acute failure, which can often be prevented, or treated, on general wards. It includes an overview of ward urinalysis.
