Frequency, Epidemiology and Outcome of Acute Kidney Injury Among Patients Admitted to Nephrology Center, Sana’a: Observational Study

Abstract

Although acute kidney injury (AKI) in our setting is growing rapidly, the available data on the magnitude of this lethal problem are very limited. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, epidemiology and outcome of AKI. A total of 143 hospitalized patients with AKI in Al Thawra General Hospital, nephrology department between July 2015 and December 2016 were enrolled. The mean age of the study population was 37.7 ± 8.4 years, and 68.5% of these patients were males. Almost 81.8% of cases were medically referred and malarial infection was the commonest cause of AKI (23%). Pre renal AKI was present in 65 patients (45.4%) and renal AKI in 78 patients (54.5%). Most cases were presented with clinical manifestation of volume overload (65%), oliguria (51.7%), anuria (16.7%), and high serum creatinine level. The majority of cases (58.7%) had recovered without dialysis. In-hospital mortality was observed in 11 patients (7.7%). Hepatic failure and malarial infection were the common causes of death. This study demonstrates low frequency of AKI in our setting. The etiologies of this lethal health problem are preventable and treatable in approximately half of cases. Late referral to hospital may contribute both to the progression of renal disease and also to high mortality.