How common is acute kidney injury?
Estimates of the incidence of acute kidney injury depend on the definition used for case finding and the population studied. It is estimated that 5% to 10% of hospitalized patients develop acute kidney injury.
Acute kidney injury is much more common in critically ill patients; 35% to 60% of critically ill patients will develop acute kidney injury based on the RIFLE, AKIN, or KDIGO criteria, and 5% will develop severe acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy.
Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that acute kidney injury has become progressively more common, with an almost 20-fold increase in incidence over 25 years.
Currently, more patients initiate renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury than for Chronic Kidney Disease, progressing to end stage kidney disease.
