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:
- Clean your blood
- Get rid of waste
- Keep the right amount of chemicals
in your blood that your body needs,
for example potassium.
- Help to keep the right amount of fluid
in your body and help make urine.
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:
- You might not be passing as much urine when you go to the toilet, even
if you drink more fluids. Some people
suddenly can’t make any urine at all.
- You might have very concentrated
urine. Sometimes this can even look
yellow-brown/red in colour.
- Your feet and legs might swell up
especially when you have been
standing or sitting for a while.
- If your kidney injury doesn’t get better
quickly and the waste products build
up in your body you might start to
feel very sick, tired, confused and
have itchy skin.