Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury: Diagnosis and Management

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important complication following cardiac and noncardiac surgery. Up to 18% of hospitalized patients develop AKI, and those who are critically ill have an even higher risk. Comparatively, the incidence of AKI in the perioperative period is 18-47%1. Patients with even modest increases in their serum creatinine have increases in their mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and hospital costs. Perioperative AKI is associated with an increased risk of sepsis, anemia, coagulopathy, and mechanical ventilation. Notably, mortality is higher in patients with perioperative AKI even after complete renal recovery1. Perioperative AKI correlates with type of surgical procedure, patient characteristics, volume status, hemodynamics, and exposure to nephrotoxins. Presurgical risk stratification and early risk mitigation is extremely important to avoid injury and need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). The following module defines perioperative AKI, identifies specific risk factors and tools for risk stratification, provides an overview of the workup of perioperative AKI, and evaluates various renal protective strategies that can be implemented during this high-risk period.

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Availability

On-Demand

Expires on Mar 01, 2026

Cost

Member: $0.00

Non-Member: $95.00

Credit Offered

No Credit Offered

Overview
Overview
Faculty
Recommended

Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, learners should be able to:

Describe the definitions and epidemiology of perioperative AKI
Detail the risk factors for development of perioperative AKI
Utilize an evidence-based approach to diagnose the etiology of perioperative AKI
Analyze the current evidence for medical AKI risk reduction therapies

If you are a Program Director and would like to grant access to your trainees, please reach out to education@hospitalmedicine.org for an academic access code.

Description
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important complication following cardiac and noncardiac surgery. Up to 18% of hospitalized patients develop AKI, and those who are critically ill have an even higher risk. Comparatively, the incidence of AKI in the perioperative period is 18-47%1. Patients with even modest increases in their serum creatinine have increases in their mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and hospital costs. Perioperative AKI is associated with an increased risk of sepsis, anemia, coagulopathy, and mechanical ventilation. Notably, mortality is higher in patients with perioperative AKI even after complete renal recovery1. Perioperative AKI correlates with type of surgical procedure, patient characteristics, volume status, hemodynamics, and exposure to nephrotoxins. Presurgical risk stratification and early risk mitigation is extremely important to avoid injury and need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). The following module defines perioperative AKI, identifies specific risk factors and tools for risk stratification, provides an overview of the workup of perioperative AKI, and evaluates various renal protective strategies that can be implemented during this high-risk period.

Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, learners should be able to:

Describe the definitions and epidemiology of perioperative AKI
Detail the risk factors for development of perioperative AKI
Utilize an evidence-based approach to diagnose the etiology of perioperative AKI
Analyze the current evidence for medical AKI risk reduction therapies

If you are a Program Director and would like to grant access to your trainees, please reach out to education@hospitalmedicine.org for an academic access code.

Faculty

Suparna Dutta, MD, MPH
Hiro Hayashi, MD
Leonard Feldman, MD, FACP, FAAP, MHM
Kurt Pfeifer, MD, FACP, SFHM, DFPM

Faculty Disclosures
The faculty and planners of these activities have no relevant relationships to disclose. All relevant relationships were mitigated prior to the start of this activity.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy
In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support, SHM requires that individuals in a position to control the content of an educational activity disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. SHM mitigates all conflicts of interest to ensure independence, objectivity, balance, and scientific rigor in all its educational programs. All relevant financial relationships shall be disclosed to participants prior to the start of the activity.

Furthermore, SHM seeks to verify that all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in a continuing medical education (CME) activity conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis. SHM is committed to providing its learners with high-quality CME activities that promote improvements in healthcare and not those of a commercial interest.

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