Association between recurrence of acute kidney injury and mortality in intensive care unit patients with severe sepsis

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in more than half critically ill patients admitted in intensive care units (ICU) and increases the mortality risk. The main cause of AKI in ICU is sepsis. AKI severity and other related variables such as recurrence of AKI episodes may influence mortality risk. While AKI recurrence after hospital discharge has been recently related to an increased risk of mortality, little is known about the rate and consequences of AKI recurrence during the ICU stay. Our hypothesis is that AKI recurrence during ICU stay in septic patients may be associated to a higher mortality risk.