Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 23, 2025

A Large Animal Model for Acute Kidney Injury by Temporary Bilateral Renal Artery Occlusion
Published on: February 2, 2021
Use of Contrast Medium Volume to Guide Prophylactic Hydration to Prevent Acute Kidney Injury After Contrast
Hung-Chi Lee1, Kai-I Chuang1, Chia-Feng Lu2
1Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing St, Taipei City 110, Taiwan.
Insights
Prophylactic hydration is beneficial for preventing contrast-induced acute kidney injury when using over 100 mL of contrast medium. For smaller volumes, hydration may not be necessary.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Radiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Contrast-enhanced imaging is crucial for diagnosis.
- Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a potential complication of contrast media administration.
- Prophylactic hydration is a common strategy to mitigate contrast-induced AKI (CI-AKI).
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of contrast volume, administration method, and baseline kidney function on hydration efficacy for CI-AKI prevention.
- To determine if prophylactic hydration is universally necessary for all contrast-enhanced procedures.
- To identify patient subgroups that benefit most from prophylactic hydration.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies.
- Inclusion of nine studies after screening 697 PubMed records.
- Subgroup analysis based on contrast volume (<100 mL vs. >100 mL), administration route, and baseline eGFR.
- Statistical analysis using t-tests and calculation of odds ratios with 95% CIs.
Main Results:
- Hydration significantly reduced CI-AKI risk when contrast volume exceeded 100 mL (OR, 0.546).
- Hydration showed no significant efficacy in preventing CI-AKI with contrast volumes under 100 mL (OR, 0.917).
- Administration route and baseline eGFR did not influence the effectiveness of prophylactic hydration.
Conclusions:
- Prophylactic hydration may not be essential for patients receiving less than 100 mL of contrast medium, irrespective of eGFR or administration route.
- Hydration is recommended for patients undergoing procedures requiring large contrast volumes (>100 mL) to prevent CI-AKI.
- These findings can help optimize CI-AKI prevention strategies and resource allocation.
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to determine whether contrast medium volume and method of administration and baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate influence the efficacy of prophylactic hydration for prevention of acute kidney injury after contrast administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS. An online search of PubMed conducted on August 25, 2017, produced a total of 697 studies. After the reports were reviewed, nine were included in this study. The extracted data on all patients in these studies were separated into a group that received prophylactic hydration and a group that did not. The following three parameters were used for subgroup analysis: contrast medium volume, contrast administration method, and baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate. The t test was performed, and study-level odds ratios with 95% CIs and p values were calculated. Tests of heterogeneity were conducted. RESULTS. When the volume of contrast agent administered exceeded 100 mL, hydration was beneficial in the prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (odds ratio, 0.546). If the volume was less than 100 mL, hydration had no efficacy in preventing contrast-induced acute kidney injury (odds ratio, 0.917). Administration route and baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate exerted no effect on the efficacy of prophylactic hydration. CONCLUSION. For patients who receive less than 100 mL of contrast medium, the prevalent practice for contrast-enhanced CT studies, prophylactic hydration may not be necessary, regardless of the estimated glomerular filtration rate or route of contrast administration. For patients undergoing procedures requiring administration of large volumes of contrast medium, however, hydration is recommended to prevent contrast-induced acute kidney injury.
Related Concept Videos
Acute Kidney Injury IV: Diagnostic Studies and Prevention
Imaging Studies VII: Vascular Imaging
Acute Kidney Injury V: Interprofessional Care
Imaging Studies III: Computed Tomography
Acute Kidney Injury I: Introduction
Acute Kidney Injury VI: Nursing Management

