AKI
Patient
Leaflet

British Kidney Partient Association - improving life for kidney patients, Royal College of General Practitioners and Think Kidneys

Who is this for?

This leaflet is for people who have been told that they have had Acute Kidney Injury and it’s been designed to answer questions you may wish to ask about this condition

What is Acute Kidney Injury?

‘Acute’ is a term used to describe something that has occurred over hours or days.

‘Kidney Injury’ describes evidence of damage to the kidneys usually with a change in the kidney function.

How can you assess kidney function?

The kidneys perform 5 important tasks for the body:

1.

They remove waste products and toxins from the body, including drugs, by making urine

2.

They control fluid balance, making sure that we are not overloaded with water or too dry

3.

They control blood pressure, keeping it at the right level for body functions

4.

They make vitamin D, keeping our bones strong

5.

They make a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates the production of red blood cells.

The best ways to assess kidney function in the short term is to measure a waste product in the blood called creatinine and also to assess urine output.