[Acute renal injury in polytrauma patients]

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in trauma is, in most cases, multifactorial. Factors related to the initial ressuscitation protocol, degree of the systemic inflamatory response to trauma, contrast nephropathy in diagnostic procedures, rhabdomyolysis and abdominal compartment syndrome are some of those factors. Nowadays a uniformization in diagnostic criteria for AKI has been proposed by the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) and as a result the incidence of AKI and its impact in outcomes in trauma patients also needs to be reconsider. In this review we aim to approach epidemiologic, physiologic and clinical relevant data in the critical care of patients victims of trauma and also to expose the risks of indiscriminate use of volume expanders and the interaction between renal replacement theraphy and intracranial hypertension.