Albumin Normalization to Prevent Hypotension and Recovery From Severe Acute Kidney Injury

Summary

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Description

In Ontario, approximately 15% of patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) develop severe kidney failure that necessitates treatment with dialysis. Dialysis is a blood-cleaning treatment that replaces kidney function but does not actually help the kidneys to heal. While dialysis is life-savi...

In Ontario, approximately 15% of patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) develop severe kidney failure that necessitates treatment with dialysis. Dialysis is a blood-cleaning treatment that replaces kidney function but does not actually help the kidneys to heal. While dialysis is life-saving, the treatments themselves may actually prevent the kidneys from recovering. This is because many patients experience low blood pressure (hypotension) during dialysis treatments. Hypotension can cause further damage to these patients' already-injured kidneys. Some studies show that patients with higher blood levels of a protein called albumin may be protected from having hypotension during dialysis. Whether or not giving patients intravenous albumin can prevent hypotension during dialysis and lead to faster kidney recovery is unknown. This study will determine if increasing ICU patients' blood albumin levels by giving them intravenous albumin fluid during dialysis treatments can prevent hypotension. The findings of this study could lead to faster kidney recovery and less need for ongoing dialysis treatments for patients who get severe kidney failure in ICU.

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