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Findings link AKI with greater rehospitalization rates among children
According to a study published in the Clinical Journals of the American Society of Nephrology, acute kidney injury was associated with greater rates of hospitalization and physician visits after discharge from a pediatric intensive care unit.
To determine whether pediatric acute kidney injury (AKI) was associated with greater use of health care services after hospital discharge, researchers performed a retrospective cohort study of children admitted to two tertiary centers in Montreal. Investigators defined AKI by serum creatinine alone or by serum creatinine and/or urine output. Outcomes were 30-day, 1-year and 5-year hospitalizations, emergency room visits and physician visits.
A total of 2,041 children were included in the study. Investigators found AKI developed in 19% of patients when serum creatinine alone was used to determine status and 22% developed AKI when urine output was included in the diagnosis.
AKI was associated with an approximately 40% greater adjusted risk of rehospitalization 1 year after discharge and with a 60% to 80% greater risk for rehospitalization 5 years after discharge. In addition, AKI was linked with more frequent 5-year outpatient physician visits.
“AKI was not associated with emergency room use after adjustments,” the investigators wrote.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.