Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Kidney Injury in Children and Adolescents

In the past 15 years, understanding of acute kidney injury (AKI) has replaced past perceptions of acute renal failure, reflecting a growing appreciation of AKI as a dynamic, graded pathologic process associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Significant effort is being made to increase knowledge of AKI pathophysiology and develop predictive models and biomarkers to advance treatments and improve outcomes. In parallel, renal support therapy (RST) has expanded from a “last resort” treatment to an important tool to prevent AKI complications and improve kidney outcomes. The last decade has also been marked by improved RST technology for small patients.