Acute renal failure--which treatment modality is the best?
Despite the progress in animal research concerning the pathophysiology and the progress in clinical practice regarding the methods of therapy, the incidence and mortality of acute renal failure remain high, especially when other organs are involved. New pharmacological interventions have led to the perspective that in the near future it may be possible to prevent and/or ameliorate this devastating syndrome. Continuous dialysis therapy and the selection of a biocompatible membrane may possibly help the critically ill patient especially when parenteral nutrition and correction of electrolyte and acid-base disturbances are important. Nevertheless, more solid data are needed and one should take into consideration that acute renal failure is a multifactorial syndrome. The type of dialysis itself is not the only matter which has to be evaluated since the mortality rate can be correlated with the number of involved organs before or after the initiation of acute renal failure and with the severity of the original disease. In clinical practice, a large number of prospective studies and more sophisticated statistical methodology are needed in order to evaluate the proper treatment modality.
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration General Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Greece.
M
M
Papadimitriou
A
A
Papagianni
D
D
Diamantopoulou
E
E
Mitsopoulos
A M
AM
Belechri
P
P
Koukoudis
D
D
Memmos
D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D019610:Cytoprotection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D008567:Membranes, Artificial