Clinical profile and outcomes of acute kidney injury patients in an intensive care unit in India

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> The limited epidemiological and outcome data of acute kidney injury (AKI) is available in developing countries. The current single-center study determined the clinical profile of AKI by attempting to identify the presenting symptoms, etiologies, treatment modalities, and disease prognosis in patients admitted in intensive care unit at a tertiary care center in Mangalore, India.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This retrospective study enrolled 70 AKI patients between October 2001 and October 2003, admitted at Wenlock district hospital, Mangalore, KMC hospital Attawar, Mangalore and KMC hospital, Jyothi circle, Mangalore, having a serum creatinine level greater than 1.4 mg/dl and blood urea greater than 53 mg/dl.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Amongst the enrolled patients, 45.7% of patients were 40-60 years old and 49 were males with no significant (p=0.412) gender difference. The most common presenting symptom was diminished micturition present in 47.1% of patients and the most common etiology of AKI was sepsis found in 27.1% of patients with the highest (17.1%) mortality. Amongst the patients who underwent conservative treatment (n=52) the mortality rate was 42.8%, while in those who underwent hemodialysis (n=18) the mortality rate was 4.2%. The overall survival rate in the study was 52.9%.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The epidemiological data obtained in this study is similar to the previous studies in India with hemodialysis appearing to have better disease outcomes compared to conservative therapy.</p>