Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)

Synonyms

Membrane artificial organs

Acute kidney injury (AKI) or acute renal failure indicates kidney injury from less severe forms of injury to more advanced injury when acute kidney failure may require renal replacement therapy. Acute kidney failure occurs when kidneys loss their functions that include excretion of wastes, acid-base homeostasis, osmolality regulation, blood pressure regulation, and hormone secretion (Waikar et al. 2008). When kidneys lose their filtering ability, dangerous levels of wastes may accumulate, resulting in an increasingly toxic blood stream and fluid overload. Acute kidney failure requires replacement therapy that includes: hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, and renal transplantation. Dialysis treatment involves the diffusion of solutes through a semipermeable membrane driven by a concentration gradient. For the treatment of uremic patients, an artificial membrane (hemodialysis) or a biological membrane (peritoneal...