Acute Kidney Injury In Children

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical condition characterized by sudden deterioration in kidney functions, increase in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine, hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis and hypertension. When defining AKI, current guidelines that consist of criterias determined by serum creatinine level and urine output are used. There are three main causes of AKI; prerenal, renal and postrenal. Prerenal AKI is most common etiology in children. Clinical symptoms of AKI differ according to the etiology. When evaluating a children with AKI, it should be noted that an increase in creatinine typically occurs 48 hours after renal injury and is the result of events 2-3 days before. The prognosis of AKI depends on the etiology.