Acute Renal Injury

 

Acute Kidney Failure

A condition in which there is an acute failure of one or both kidneys to filter waste properly resulting in the accumulation of deadly waste that can be poison to the body. It is also known as acute kidney injury. Most common in hospitalized patients especially the ones in ICU.

Symptoms

  • Difficulty in breathing.Addison’s Disease
  • Edema on ankles, feet and legs.
  • Reduction in the urine output.
  • Weakness and fatigue
  • Confusion
  • Dizziness
  • Irregular heart rate.
  • Pressure sensation on chest
  • Seizures can occur in severe condition. Occasionally patient may go into coma.

Causes

Acute kidney failure can result when:

  • You have a disease that restrict the blood flow to your kidneys like heart attacks, infection, liver failure, severe burns, dehydration etc.
  • Direct trauma to your kidneys like glomerulonephritis, heamolytic ureamic syndrome, lupus, certain chemotherapeutic drugs etc
  • Ureter become blocked and restricted the flow of wastes through the body in conditions like prostate cancer, kidney stones, colon cancer, cervical cancer etc.

Complications

In some conditions fluid buildup in the lungs resulting in difficulty in breathing, pericardium can become inflamed causing severe chest pain, muscle weakness making patients imbalance during walk. Sometimes acute renal damage can causes end stage renal disease or death.

Diagnosis

After suspecting acute renal failure confirmation is done by some following test;

  • Measuring urine output in every 24 hours
  • Analyzing urine samples.
  • Run blood tests to measure urea and creatinine levels.
  • Ultrasound and CT scans.
  • Biopsy of kidney tissues.

Treatment

The major goal of treatment of renal injury is to treat the underlying defect. As complications of injury can prove fatal to treat them early by keeping your body fluids under normal limits, taking medications to keep potassium level normal and restore calcium levels. Dialysis is a great option to deal with these metabolic abnormalities.

Home remedies

  • Keep your diet low in potassium content. Consume more fruits having low potassium like grapes, Apples, strawberries, peppers etc.
  • Limit your salt and phosphorus intake in diet.
 
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