Clinical outcomes of acute renal failure in children

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the etiological factors, clinical progression and management of acute renal failure (ARF) in hospitalized children.Materials and Method: Medical records of 63 patients aged between 1 month and 18 years who were hospitalized at Uludag University, Department of Pediatrics or at various intensive care departments of the faculty and diagnosed with ARF between January 2005 and August 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.Results: Forty two of study patients were male and 21 were female. Mean age was 5.4+/-5.3 years. ARF was found in 4.9% of all hospitalized patients. Sepsis was the most frequent etiological factor with a ratio of 23.8%; which was followed by gastroenteritis (19.1%), tumor lysis syndrome (17.4%) and cardiac surgery (15.9%). Oliguria, sepsis, hyperkalemia, acidosis and dialysis were found to be associated with increased mortality (p< 0.05). The mortality rate in the study population was 49.2%.Conclusion: Dialysis and mechanical ventilation was found to be associated with a poor outcome in our patients.