Early RRT in AKI After Cardiac Surgery

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the major complications after cardiac surgery that may affects 20% to 40% of patients according to the definitions. Also, AKI after cardiac surgery is associated with high morbidity and mortality, with eight-fold increase in the odds ratio of death when renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required. However the indication and the optimal timing of RRT initiation are still controversial. We hypothesized that a strategy of early initiation of RRT would result in a lower risk of surgical mortality than a standard strategy in post cardiac surgery patients with AKI of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) classification stage 2 (serum creatinine, 2.0 times the baseline level; urine output, \<0.5mL/kg/h for 6 or more hours).