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Abstract Background and Aims The epidemiology of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in hospitalized and critically ill populations has been well described but less is known about AKI in the emergency department (ED) patients. Community-acquired AKI represents about a quarter of AKI events observed in the hospital, and its incidence is increasing. Our aim was to look at the characteristics, early management, triage and outcomes of patients with AKI stage 2 and 3 alerts from busy emergency department. Method A retrospective review of patients with AKI 2 and 3 alerts from ED at Doncaster royal Infirmary (DRI) and Bassetlaw sister units in England over a 2 month period from August - September 2022 was conducted. All alerts from Ambulatory/SDEC (Same day emergency care) units have been excluded from this study. Data was gathered from trust electronic health system and patient discharge summaries. Results 158 AKI stage 2 and 3 alerts were received from ED at DRI and Bassetlaw of which 91 (57.5%) were AKI 2 alerts and 67 (42.4%) were AKI 3 alerts. Average age of patients was 73 yrs. Median length of stay in ED was 9hrs (Range 3 hrs–41 hrs). 44 (28%) patients died during this hospital episode of which 28 (64%) died in medical wards, 10 (23%) in critical care unit, 5 died in ED and 1 patient died in surgical ward. Average age of patients who died was 70 yrs and Median length of stay in ED was no different at 9hrs. 23 (52%) had sepsis as primary cause of death. 8 (18%) who died had active malignancy. 9 (20%) had either end stage heart failure/Liver failure or primary lung condition. 8 (18%) had either Frailty, Old age and/or Dementia listed as contributing to death. 8 (18%) patients were discharged home from ED. Discharge diagnosis was Dehydration and/or Falls. Only 4 of the 8 patients had AKI communicated to Primary care on ED discharge letter. 3 of the discharged patients had hospital readmission within 30 days. Looking at the initial intervention in ED, all patients had early warning score and initial resuscitation documented however none of the patients had Fluid balance charted. Bladder scan was performed on 15 (34%) patients where there was high suspicion of obstructive uropathy. Medication as a contributing factor to AKI was commented in 7 (4%) cases. Out of 106 patients who were discharged from hospital wards, sepsis, community acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infection and gastroenteritis were the commonest discharge diagnosis. Median length of Hospital stay was 11 days. Only 2 patients were admitted to specialist Renal ward directly from ED. AKI was communicated to primary care in 70 (62%) patients at discharge. 13 (12%) patients were readmitted to hospital within 30 days of discharge. Conclusion AKI is a marker of severity of illness and we note significant mortality in patients who present to ED with stage 2 and 3 AKI. Sepsis was commonest cause of death but we note a significant proportion of patients had either active malignancy or severe underlying chronic health condition. With increasing waiting times in ED, early recognition and AKI focused management is a priority. AKI education for nursing and medical staff in ED and Pharmacy input for patients who spend long hours in ED might help reduce length of overall hospital stay.
Kaki et al. (Wed,) studied this question.