Investigating Risk Factors of AKI in Patients with Sepsis Hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome in which the renal function deteriorates during a short period of time. It is usually accompanied by the accumulation of various waste products. Among the factors causing AKI, sepsis is considered the most important and common factor since about half of the patients diagnosed with AKI are also diagnosed with sepsis. Despite recent advances in medical science, AKI remains a challenge due in part to its importance and partly because of its prevalence in, especially, ICU settings.

Keeping in mind the importance of the issue and the lack of prior national data, the current study aimed to investigate the correlation of different factors with the occurrence of AKI in ICU-admitted patients diagnosed with sepsis.

In this retrospective study, a total of 65 adult patients admitted to the ICU were included and followed for a period of four weeks. The severity of AKI was determined using RIFLE scoring system, and the QSOFA score was calculated for the patients. Other factors such as creatinine level, CRP level, antibiotics received during the study period, and present comorbidities were also recorded. Finally, the correlation between these factors and the occurrence of AKI was determined.

AKI was found in 59 of the patients. Overall, cardiovascular diseases were the most common comorbidity, and Vancomycin and Carbapenem were the most widely used antibiotics. Among the factors investigated in this study, QSOFA score and Vancomycin were the only factors significantly correlated with AKI.

In sum, it was recommended that septic patients should be managed and provided with care based on their QSOFA scores as well as on the administration of Vancomycin and other nephrotoxic antibiotics.