Learn what is acute kidney failure causes, symptoms, treatment, prevention, natural remedies, diet, mistakes to avoid, and more everything you ever wanted to know about renal failure and kidney health care.
About Kidney Failure
Kidney failure refers to damage to the kidneys that result in loss of normal kidney function which can be both temporary and permanent. The permanent loss is when the kidneys permanently fail to work and are popularly known as End-stage renal disease (ESRD).
Conditions that may lead to kidney failure depend on acute kidney failure or chronic kidney failure. Acute kidney failure is a potentially reversible failure which starts abruptly whereas chronic kidney failure progresses slowly over at least three months and can lead to permanent kidney failure. Read more about chronic kidney failure.
Types of Kidney Failure
Kidney failure is of two types which are acute and chronic.
- Acute kidney failure has an abrupt onset and is potentially reversible.
- Chronic kidney failure progresses slowly over at least three months and can lead to permanent kidney failure.
What is Acute Kidney Failure?
Acute kidney failure is the condition of kidneys that loses its ability to perform their main function of monitoring the amount of fluid, electrolytes, and waste in the body and eliminating excess fluid and waste materials from the blood.
Acute kidney failure is also called acute renal failure or acute kidney injury. It develops rapidly in less than a few days. Acute kidney failure is most common in people who are hospitalized, particularly in critical condition and need intensive care.
Signs & Symptoms of Acute Kidney Failure
Acute kidney failure can be caused because of blood loss, toxins or waste materials accumulation, or physical damage to the kidneys. The symptoms of acute kidney failure occur when the kidney does not work the way it should due to the mentioned problems in the body. Symptoms of acute kidney failure develop very quickly within several hours or days.
Sometimes there will be no signs and symptoms of kidney failure. It is detected through lab tests done for another reason. It could be dangerous if you observe any of the following symptoms in you or your loved ones. The symptoms include:
- Decreased urine output (20 – 200 ml per day).Although urine output remains normal occasionally.
Symptoms of acidosis: It is a condition in which the acidity of body fluids and tissues is abnormally high.
– Vomiting
-Increased rate of breathing
– Mental impairment.
– Hypertension or high blood pressure(BP).
Symptoms of uremia: It is due to the presence of excessive amounts of urea and other nitrogenous waste compounds in the blood.
– Lack of appetite.
– Nausea and vomiting.
– Gastrointestinal bleeding.
– Anemia.
– Lethargy.
- Fluid retention can cause swelling in legs, ankles or feet.
- loss of appetite
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue, nausea
- Irregular heartbeat.
- In severe cases Seizures or coma can occur.
- Chest pain or pressure related to pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac-like membrane that envelops your heart.
Causes of Acute Kidney Failure
Acute kidney failure can be caused by damage to the kidneys which can occur as a result of blood loss, toxins, or physical damage to the kidneys. Acute kidney failure can occur when:
Slow blood flow to kidneys: You will have a condition that slows blood flow to your kidneys. The diseases and conditions that may cause low blood flow to the kidneys and lead to kidney damage include:
- Blood or fluid loss
- Blood pressure medications
- Heart attack
- Heart disease
- Accelerated hypertension.
- Infection
- Liver failure
- Use of aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve, others) or related drugs
- Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
- Severe burns
- Severe dehydration
Damage to kidneys: You will experience direct damage to your kidneys. The diseases, conditions, and agents may damage the kidneys and lead to acute kidney failure includes:
- Blood clots in the veins and arteries
- Cholesterol deposits in the kidneys
- Glomerulonephritis, the inflammation of the tiny filters in the kidneys (glomeruli)
- Premature destruction of red blood cells results in Hemolytic uremic syndrome.
- Infections
- Blood poisoning during pregnancy due to the toxins formed by bacteria growing in the local area of infection.
- Lupus, an immune system disorder causing glomerulonephritis
- Medications, such as some chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, and dyes used during imaging tests.
- Scleroderma is termed a group of rare diseases affecting the skin and connective tissues.
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura refers to a rare blood disorder.
- Toxins such as heavy metals, alcohol, and cocaine.
- Rhabdomyolysis is a Muscle tissue breakdown can lead to kidney damage caused by toxins from muscle tissue destruction.
- Tumor lysis syndrome is a breakdown of tumor cells leads to the release of toxins that can cause kidney damage.
Urine Blockage in Kidneys: The kidneys’ urine drainage tubes (ureters) become blocked and wastes can’t go away from the body through your urine. Diseases and conditions that obstruct urine passage out of the body (urinary obstruction) and can lead to acute kidney damage include:
- Bladder cancer
- Blood clots in the urinary tract
- Cervical cancer
- Colon cancer
- Enlarged prostate
- Kidney stones
- Nerve damage involves in the nerves that control the bladder
- Prostate cancer
Risk factors of Acute Kidney Failure
Exposure to toxic substances, physical injuries, drug overdose, excessive use of alcohol, and long-term use of pain medications can cause kidney damage. Acute kidney failure mostly all the time occurs in connection with another medical condition or event. The conditions that increase the risk of acute kidney failure include:
- Chronic infection
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Heart failure
- Kidney diseases
- Liver diseases
- Prostate gland enlargement
- Bladder outlet obstruction
- Being hospitalized, especially for a serious condition that requires intensive care
- Advanced age
- Blockages in the blood vessels in your arms or legs (peripheral artery disease)
- Certain cancers and their treatments
Complications of Acute Kidney Failure
Acute kidney failure is the most serious problem which can be life threatening. It means that you are at a risk for complications of kidney failure. So you need to take extra care to stay healthy. The following are the most common complications of kidney failure:
Fluid buildup: Acute kidney failure may lead to the formation of excess fluid in your lungs, which can cause shortness of breath.
Chest pain: If the pericardium, a lining that covers your heart becomes inflamed, you may experience pain in your chest.
Muscle weakness: When your body’s fluids and electrolytes i.e. body’s blood chemistry are out of balance can result in muscle weakness.
Permanent kidney damage: Most often, acute kidney failure causes permanent loss of kidney function or end-stage renal disease. People with kidney failure disease require either permanent dialysis, a mechanical filtration process used to remove toxins or wastes from the body or a kidney transplant to survive.
Death: Acute kidney failure may lead to loss of functioning of kidney and ultimately cause death.
Diagnosis of Acute Kidney Failure
Acute Kidney failure can be diagnosed based on certain criteria. If you have one of the following three criteria in the duration of 48 hours, this means that you have an acute renal failure:
- Urine output measurements: Measuring how much you urinate in 24 hours may help your doctor to find the cause of your kidney failure.
- Urine tests: Analyzing a sample of your urine (urinalysis) helps to find abnormalities that cause kidney failure.
- Blood tests: The blood test may reveal rapidly rising levels of urea and creatinine. These two substances are used to measure kidney function.
- If your serum creatinine rises by .3 mg/dl
- If your serum creatinine goes up by 50 percent or more from normal levels
- Imaging tests: Imaging tests such as ultrasound and computerized tomography may be used to help your doctor see your kidneys and find the problem.
- Removing a sample of kidney tissue for testing: In some situations, your doctor may recommend a kidney biopsy i.e. your doctor inserts a needle into your kidney to remove the sample for tests.
Investigations for Acute Kidney Failure
- Urine test
- Abdominal ultrasound exam
- MRI
- CT
How soon should I start learning about treatment?
Before going for treatment start learning early about treatment options. You’ll have time to
- learn about the different treatment options
- talk with other people who are living with dialysis, a transplant, or conservative management
- share your thoughts with your family and loved ones so they can learn about your treatment choices, too
- work with your health care team to create a kidney failure treatment plan
- prepare yourself mentally and physically for the changes ahead
Creating a treatment plan and share it with your family so that you have more control.
Treatment for Acute Kidney Failure
The main goal is to treat the disease or injury that damaged your kidneys. There are two treatments available for kidney failures are kidney transplantation and dialysis. Two different types of dialysis can be done are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
- Kidney Transplantation: This is an operation that replaces a damaged kidney by a healthy kidney into your body. The kidney can be donated by someone or someone who has died. A new kidney will usually start functioning immediately but to prevent your body from rejecting the new kidney, you will need special medicines. Even after the Kidney transplant, you may still need some of the other medicines to take for the life time.
Hemodialysis (HD): Hemodialysis is a treatment that removes toxins or wastes and extra fluid from your blood. During hemodialysis, blood is pumped through some soft tubes to a dialysis machine that is a special filter where blood goes through is called a dialyzer. It is also called as an artificial kidney. Duration of treatment time is 3-5 hours, 3 times a week.
Dialysis: Dialysis, a method through which a machine can do the work of the kidney by removing toxins or waste from the body and regulating fluid and electrolyte balance.
Medical Advice for Acute Kidney Failure
Consult your doctor immediately if you experience fluid retention, decreased urination, no urine output at all and any other signs and symptoms of acute kidney failure. If immediate action is taken damage caused due to kidney failure can be reversed.
Follow all of your doctor’s recommendations carefully for managing your condition. If you have a chronic medical condition then your risk of kidney failure is more.
Questions for your kidney doctor:
Preparing a list of questions for your doctor will always be helpful. However, the following are the few questions that you need to ask your doctor before confirming the treatment.
- What’s the most like cause of my symptoms?
- Have my kidneys stopped working? What could have caused my kidney failure?
- What kinds of tests do I need?
- What are my treatment options and what are the risks?
- Do I need to go to the hospital?
- Will my kidneys recover or will I need dialysis?
- I have another health conditions. How can I best manage these conditions together?
- Do I need to eat a special diet, and if so, can you refer me to a dietitian to help me plan what to eat?
- Is there a generic alternative to the prescribed medicine?
- Do you have any printed materials that I can take with me? What websites do you recommend?
Self-Care for Acute Kidney Failure
Acute kidney failure is mostly difficult to predict or prevent. But you may reduce your risk of kidney failure by taking some self-care. Good self-care will help you to live a healthy life more actively and continue to do the things you love.
So it is important to preserve the remaining kidney function. Even after the failure of a kidney. Taking some self- care will help improve your health and enable you to live better and longer. Good self-management steps include:
- Getting enough dialysis
- Caring for your hemodialysis access or peritoneal catheter
- Managing heart and blood vessel problems, high blood pressure, anemia, bone problems if you have it.
- Follow some healthy lifestyle activities like not smoking, eating right and getting enough exercise.
- Drinking more amount of water
- Diet and water intake should be under strict medical guidance.
Dietary management – Diet for kidney disease
Dietary management is necessary to correct the fluid and electrolyte imbalance and to maintain right nutritional order so as to minimize protein catabolism and uraemia. But this dietary management should be done with the help of a professional dietitian.
Foods to avoid
The following are the food you need to avoid:
- Avoid potassium rich food
- Minimize or avoid protein
- Avoid high sodium diet
- Avoid phosphorus in the diet/food
Foods to consume
The following are the food you need to consume
- Drink more water under the guidance of the physician
- Have high calorie diet. Increase intakes of fats and carbohydrates.
- Vitamin C supplements, helps to increase immunity and combat the infection.
- Take 2 table spoon of fresh flax seed oil that reduces or slows the process of further renal damage.
Tips to Boost Your Kidney Function
The following are the tips that can boost your kidney function.
- Nutritional needs are also determined by the treatments that are used by the patient such as dialysis.
- Enough energy should be provided for patients with acute renal failure to be able to provide sufficient amount of weight maintenance and to meet the demands of stress accompanying ARF, usually 30-40 kcal/kg of body weight.
- Fats, oils and simple carbohydrates, and low protein starches should provide non protein kilo calories.
- In cases where dialysis is not a treatment option, protein should be regulated to 0.6 grams per kilogram body weight.
- When you are on dialysis, it is much less restrictive on protein as it can be individualized to 1.0 to 1.4 g/kg of body weight.
- On both occasions, however, the use of biologically high value protein is strongly recommended.
- During the oliguric phase, sodium salt might be restricted to 1000mg to 2000mg and potassium to 1000 mg per day. These are two of the most vital electrolytes that the body needs and they may be lost during the period of frequent urination. Thus, replacement might be necessary.
- Fluids are also monitored closely. They are replaced based on the amount of water does the body get rid of each day including vomitus, urine and diarrhea.
Things to Remember:
- Acute kidney injury is a short-term condition and it can lead to a long-term chronic kidney disease.
- It is important to protect your kidneys if you are at increased risk of acute kidney injury
- If your kidneys already have reduced function make sure that you have a suitable treatments.
Summary – Acute Kidney Failure
- Kidney failure can be sudden or gradual.
- Acute kidney failure is often short-lived, but requires treatment until kidney function returns.
- Chronic kidney disease develops over time and is related to a number of risk factors, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
- If chronic kidney disease is detected early, medication and lifestyle changes can increase the life of your kidneys.
- Treatment options for kidney failure include dialysis, transplant or non-dialysis supportive care.
FAQs of Acute Kidney Failure
- Can Acute Kidney Failure be cured?
- Acute Kidney Failure is a serious condition, but it can be treated and be cured. Most people can survive an episode without long-term consequences with proper treatment.
- When to consult a Physician?
- Consult a Physician immediately if any of the above sign and symptoms appears. Timely treatment and management can prevent any further damage to the kidney.
- How to safe guard kidneys?
- By avoiding prolonged use of antibiotics you can safeguard your kidney. Do not follow self-medication especially for children. Use medicines that are instructed by your physician.
- Can an acute kidney failure be fatal?
- Acute kidney failure can be fatal and requires high intensive treatment. However, acute kidney failure may be cured permanently.
- Can kidney transplantation be a permanent solution?
- A kidney transplant is a treatment, not a cure. Kidney transplant recipients still may have chronic kidney disease, and you may still need to take some of the medicines maybe for life time.
- Can end stage kidney failure be reversed?
- The damage can’t be reversed if one or both kidneys fail completely. It is called kidney failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This condition can be treated by a kidney transplant.
- How long can you live with kidney failure?
- In general, patients who are hospitalized have six months or less to live. When patients with kidney failure choose to forgo dialysis, their life time depends on kidney function they have, how severe their symptoms are and their overall medical condition.
- What is the most common cause of death in dialysis patients?
- The leading cause of death in patients with ESRD is sudden cardiac death (SCD), which is the sudden, unexpected cessation of cardiac activity with hemodynamic collapse.
- Can kidneys start working again?
- After the removal of waste and extra water from the blood, kidneys may begin to work again and dialysis can be stopped after several weeks.
- What is the first sign of kidney failure?
- Improper kidney function can lead to sodium retention which cause swelling in your feet and ankles. Swelling in the lower extremities can also be a sign of liver disease, heart disease and chronic leg vein problems.
- Can kidneys start working again after dialysis?
- After dialysis, the kidneys may begin to work again and dialysis can be stopped after several weeks. Sometimes chronic kidney failure may develop, which requires long-term dialysis or a kidney transplant.
- How long does it take for acute kidney failure to heal?
- In some cases, acute kidney failure may resolve in a couple of days with fluid and antibiotics. In some severe cases of kidneys failure, it takes two or three weeks or even longer for recovery.