ICU acquired acute renal failure carries a higher mortality than acute renal failure on admission to ICU

Acute renal failure (ARF) has a significant impact on outcome of critically ill patients [1]. The aim of this study was to identify any differences between patients with ARF on admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and patients developing ARF during their stay in the ICU. We retrospectively analysed data from The Riyadh Intensive Care Program (RIP) database which contains demographic data of 26,669 patients admitted to 21 ICUs in the United Kingdom (UK) during the time period June 1989 until September 1996. ARF was defined according to the organ system failure scoring system by Knaus et al [2]. Patients with chronic renal failure were excluded.

Comment

Our study confirms that ARF increases mortality in ICU patients with a further marked increase amongst patients who require renal replacement therapy (RRT). Patients who develop ARF during their stay in the ICU have a significantly worse outcome compared to patients with ARF on admission to ICU.

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