Risk factors associated with acute kidney injury in a pediatric intensive care unit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Case control study

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious problem in critically ill children. It is associated with poor treatment outcomes and a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Globally, one in three critically ill admitted children suffer from acute kidney injury. However, limited data are available in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, highlighting the risk factors related to acute kidney injury. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with acute kidney injury among critically ill children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods: A facility-based unmatched case-control study was carried out on 253 (85 cases and 168 controls) children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit from January 2011 to December 2021. Participants were selected using a systematic random sampling technique for the control group and all cases consecutively. Data were collected using a structured checklist. Data were entered using Epi data version 4.6 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Multivariate analysis was carried out using the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to identify associated factors with acute kidney injury. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.

Results: The median age of the participants was two years. About 55.6 % of cases and 53.1% of controls were females. The diagnosis of hypertension (AOR= 5.36; 95% CI: 2.06- 13.93)], shock (AOR=3.88, 95% CI: 1.85- 8.12), exposure to nephrotoxic drugs (AOR=4.09; 95% CI: 1. 45- 11.59), sepsis or infection AOR=3.36; 95% CI: 1.42-7.99), nephritic syndrome (AOR=2.97; 95% CI :1.19, 7.43), and mechanical ventilation AOR=2.25, 95% CI: 1.12, 4.51) were significantly associated with acute kidney injury.

Conclusion: In this study, the diagnosis of sepsis or infection, hypertension, shock, nephrotoxic drugs, demand for mechanical ventilation support, and nephritic syndrome increased the risk of AKI among critically ill children. Multiple risk factors for AKI are associated with illness and its severity. All measures that ensure adequate renal perfusion must be taken in children with identified risk factors to avoid the development of AKI.

Acute kidney injury among medical and surgical in-patients in the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Cape Coast, Ghana: a prospective cross-sectional study

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome associated with high morbidity, mortality and high hospital costs. Despite its adverse clinical and economic effects, only a few studies have reported reliable estimates on the incidence of AKI in sub-Sahara Africa. We assessed the incidence and associated factors of AKI among medical and surgical patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among one hundred and forty-five (145) consecutive patients admitted to the medical and the surgical wards at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Cape Coast, Ghana from April 2017 to April 2018. Socio-demographic and clinical information were collected using structured questionnaires. AKI was diagnosed and staged with the KDIGO guideline, using admission serum creatinine as baseline kidney function.

Results: The mean age of the study participants was 46.6±17.7 years, whilst the male:female ratio was 68:77. The overall incidence of AKI among the participants was 15.9% (95% CI: 10.33 – 22.84%). Stage 1 AKI occurred in 56.5% of the participants, whilst stages 2 and 3 AKI respectively occurred among 4.1% and 2.8% of respondents. About 20% of the participants in the medical ward developed AKI (n= 15) whilst 12% of those in surgical ward developed AKI (n= 8). Among the participants admitted to the medical ward, 60.0%, 26.7% and 13.3% had stages 1, 2 and 3 AKI respectively. Whilst 50.0%, 25.0% and 25.0% respectively developed stages 1, 2 and 3 AKI in the surgical ward. Medical patients with AKI had hyper-tension (40%), followed by liver disease (33.3%); 37.5% of surgical inpatients had gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.

Conclusion: The incidence of AKI is high among medical and surgical patients in-patients in the CCTH, Ghana, with hypertension and liver disease as major comorbidities.

Global Incidence and Outcomes of Adult Patients With Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES:
To estimate the global incidence and outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery in adult patients.

DESIGN:
A systematic review and meta-analysis.

SETTING:
Cardiac surgery wards.

PARTICIPANTS:
Adult patients after cardiac surgery

INTERVENTIONS:
None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:
The authors searched PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, OVID, and EMBASE databases for all articles on cardiac surgery patients published during 2004 to 2014. Meta-analyses were conducted to generate pooled incidence, mortality, ICU length of stay, and length of hospital stay. The authors also described the variations according to study design, criteria of AKI, surgical methods, countries, continents, and their economies. After a primary and secondary screen, 91 observational studies with 320,086 patients were identified. The pooled incidence rates of AKI were 22.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.8 to 25.1) in total and 13.6%, 3.8%, and 2.7% at stages 1, 2, and 3, respectively, whereas 2.3% of patients received renal replacement therapy. The pooled short-term and long-term mortality were 10.7% and 30%, respectively, and increased along with the severity of stages. The pooled unadjusted odds ratio for short-term and long-term mortality in patients with AKI relative to patients without AKI was 0.144 (95% CI, 0.108 to 0.192, p<0.001) and 0.342 (95% CI 0.287-0.407, p<0.001), respectively. The pooled average ICU length of stay and length of hospital stay in the AKI group were 5.4 and 15 days, respectively, while they were 2.2 and 10.5 days in the no-AKI group.

CONCLUSIONS:
AKI is a great burden for patients undergoing cardiac surgery and can affect short-term and long-term prognoses of these patients.