A study on the stage of presentation of acute kidney injuries to clinics in Western Nigeria

Aim: The research was primarily set to assess the stages at which acute kidney injuries (AKI) are presented for clinical appraisal.

Methods: The research was carried out in southwest Nigeria. A total of 151 participants were included, 101 were AKI patients. The remaining 50 were apparently healthy individuals who had no history of AKI, who served as control. Estimation of plasma creatinine was carried out on the subjects’ blood sample. Values were then subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 17. The diagnosis and staging of AKI was based on history taken and a rise in plasma creatinine to set cut off points. AKI patients were therefore grouped into three with respect to the plasma creatinine content of the first blood sample collected on presentation. The three stages were titled 1, 2, and 3; 1 and 3 being mild and severe respectively.

Result: A significant rise in plasma creatinine was observed when the AKI patients were compared with control. The frequencies of patients at each AKI stage were 17, 5, and 79 for stages 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The age groups and frequency of AKI were: up to 10 years (31), 11 to 20years (6), 21 to 30 years (27), 31 to 4 years (33), 41 to 50 years (4), 51 to 60 years (5), and 60 years and above (6).

Conclusion: It appears that in the absence of etabolic diseases, the frequency of AKI is higher in children and between the age group of 21 to 40.