Acute Kidney Injury in the Surgical Patient

Perioperative acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common, morbid, and costly surgical complication. Current efforts to understand and manage AKI in surgical patients focus on prevention, mitigation of further injury when AKI has occurred, treatment of associated conditions, and facilitation of renal recovery. Lesser severity AKI is now understood to be much more common, and more morbid, than was previously thought. The ability to detect AKI within hours of onset would be helpful in protecting the kidney and in preserving renal function, and several imaging and biomarker modalities are currently being evaluated.