Patient Information Leaflet. AKI Acute Kidney Injury.

My Doctor said I have AKI. What is AKI?

AKI is short for acute kidney injury. Some people used to call it acute renal failure.

If you have AKI, it means your kidneys have suddenly stopped working as well as they were. This might have happened in the last few hours, days or weeks.

Acute Kidney Injury affects both your kidneys.

What should my kidneys do if they work properly?

Your kidneys have lots of very important jobs to do to keep you well.

The most important things your kidneys do every day are:

Your kidneys also have other jobs such as helping to make red blood cells, keeping acid levels right in your body and help with healthy bones and good blood pressure control.

What are the symptoms of AKI?

Some patients do not have any signs or symptoms that their kidneys have stopped working. We would only find out about your kidney injury when we look at your blood test results.

Some patients will have a lot of symptoms that their kidneys have stopped working.

These might be: