Prevalence of risk factors of acute kidney injury in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of preventable risk factors of acute kidney injury in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. All patients admitted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi with diagnosis of acute kidney injury were included out of which 134 were selected via random sampling. Patients with existing CKD were excluded. Data was then collected retrospectively from medical records of these patients. Mean age was 60±11.7 years while mean serum creatinine on admission was 2.4±1.3 (mg/dl). Sepsis played a role in almost half of the patients [60 (45%)]. Other factors included diarrhoea [23 (17%)], nephrotoxic drug use [25 (19%)] and cardiac pathology [24 (18%)]. It was found that most cases of AKI were due to preventable factors (infections, diarrhoea, and drug toxicity) and concerted efforts to eliminate them would be vital in reducing mortality caused by AKI in developing countries.