BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the outcome and certain predictors of outcome for acute renal failure (ARF) in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) at Tygerberg Hospital.METHOD: We conducted a retrospective, single-centre cohort study over 12 months comprising all patients admitted to the medical ICU with all causes of renal failure or who developed renal failure following admission to the ICU.RESULTS: Of 198 medical patients admitted to the ICU, ARF occurred in 46 (23.2%). The leading cause of ARF was acute tubular necrosis. The ICU mortality for ARF patients was 47.8%, compared with 17.5% in ICU patients without ARF. Acute haemodialysis was performed in only 17.3% of the 46 ARF patients. Using Cox proportional hazard regression, we found that mean duration of stay (p<0.001), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (Apache II) score (p<0.001), mechanical ventilation (p<0.01), dialysis (p<0.04) and multi-organ failure (p<0.05) affected survival time.CONCLUSIONS: We found that ARF is still associated with a high mortality rate and longer duration of stay, higher Apache II score, and need for mechanical ventilation; dialysis and presence of multi-organ failure were indicators of a higher mortality rate.
Acute Kidney Injury Adult