RT Book, Section
A1 Boswell, Kimberly A.
A1 Menaker, Jay A.
A2 Farcy, David A.
A2 Chiu, William C.
A2 Marshall, John P.
A2 Osborn, Tiffany M.
SR Print(0)
ID 1135701828
T1 Acute Kidney Injury
T2 Critical Care Emergency Medicine, 2e
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071838764
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1135701828
RD 2024/04/23
AB Acute  kidney  injury  (AKI),  formally  known  as  acute  renal  failure  (ARF),  is  a  well-established  entity  in  the  critically  ill  and  has  long  been  studied.  It  is  categorized  by  a  sudden  decrease  in  a  patient's  glomerular  filtration  rate  (GFR),  which  ultimately  leads  to  the  body's  inability  to  maintain  fluid,  electrolyte,  and  toxin  homeostasis.  There  are  many  etiologies,  of  which  the  most  frequent  and  applicable  to  the  emergency  medicine  physician  will  be  described  in  this  chapter.  Regardless  of  the  etiology,  every  diagnosis  can  be  placed  among  one  of  three  categories,  including  prerenal,  intrinsic  renal,  or  postrenal  causes.  The  frequency  of  various  etiologies  is  largely  dependent  on  the  patient.  Hospitalized  patients  more  often  have  intrinsic  renal  disease  (most  commonly  acute  tubular  necrosis)  due  to  sepsis,  ischemia,  or  exposure  to  nephrotoxic  medications  or  substances.1  Patients  presenting  to  the  emergency  department  (ED)  are  more  likely  to  have  pre-  and  postrenal  causes  in  addition  to  intrinsic  glomerular  disease  etiologies  such  as  nephritic  or  nephrotic  patterns.