22 December 2014
Raising awareness of life-threatening kidney condition
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a new quality standard to raise awareness among people who might be at risk of acute kidney injury. NICE has set out priorities for healthcare professionals on prevention, detection and management of this common condition.
The annual number of deaths associated with acute kidney injury could be more than 40,000 peoplei. According to a recent NHS study, this could be five times higher than previously thought.
Acute kidney injury happens when the kidneys suddenly stop working as they should. The potential causes include conditions which lead to dehydration, such as diarrhoea and vomiting, or use of certain drugs.
The quality standard includes 6 statements aimed at healthcare professionals caring for people in danger of developing, or who already have, acute kidney injury. This includes:
- Healthcare professionals should educate people at risk about potential causes of acute kidney injury, such as dehydration or use of certain drugs, and what they can do to prevent it.
- Healthcare professionals should ensure people at risk of developing acute kidney injury have their blood and urine tested.
- A specialist should be consulted within 24 hours to discuss how to manage people with acute kidney injury who are at risk of kidney disease or if they have stage 3 acute kidney injury or a kidney transplant.
- People with acute kidney injury who need specialist treatment, such as dialysis, should be referred immediately.
Professor Gillian Leng, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health and Social Care at NICE said: “Acute kidney injury is very common. It is a great challenge to NHS resources and the annual cost of treating patients with acute kidney injury in hospital is thought to be over £1 billion. For people in hospital it can have very harmful effects and increases their chance of dying.
“We know that there are hospitals already delivering high-quality care to people at risk of or who have acute kidney injury using the recommendations from the NICE guideline. This quality standard is about addressing the preventable cases of acute kidney injury where possible and managing the condition in those people who already have it. All healthcare professionals can use this standard to help prevent people getting acute kidney injury and potentially save thousands of lives in England every year.”
Fiona Loud, Policy Director for the British Kidney Patient Association and specialist member of the quality standard committee said: “Acute kidney injury is a devastating condition, if left untreated, the effects can be quite sudden and within a few hours it can become life-threatening. Almost a third of cases of acute kidney injury could be prevented so it is really important that people know if they are at risk and discuss the potential causes with their healthcare professional so they know what to do to avoid it, such as keeping hydrated. Greater awareness and earlier detection of acute kidney injury means that people can get the right care without delay.”
The full standard is available online at /guidance/QS76.
Ends
For more information, please call the NICE press office on 0300 323 0142 or out of hours on 07775 583 813, or email pressoffice@nice.org.uk.
Notes to Editors
References
i. Kerr M, et al. (2014). The economic impact of acute kidney injury in England. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation: 1–7. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfu016.
Facts and figures
- The 2009 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death concluded that almost a third (30%) of cases of acute kidney injury could be prevented.
- Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data 2010–11 found that acute kidney injury was recorded in 142,705 inpatient admissions (2.43%) and that 122,928 patients (3.24%) had at least 1 admission with recorded acute kidney injury during the year.
- HES data from 2010–11 show that patients died before discharge in approximately 28% of admissions with acute kidney injury recorded.
- The annual cost of inpatient care related to acute kidney injury in England is estimated to be £1.02 billion, which is just over 1% of the NHS budget and is more than is spent on breast cancer, lung cancer and bowel cancer combined.
- Based on frequency and mortality rate of acute kidney injury, prevention or amelioration of 20% of cases would prevent a large number of deaths and substantially reduce complications and their associated costs.
About the quality standard
- The quality standard for acute kidney injury is available on the NICE website at /guidance/QS76.
- The quality standard is different to the institute’s acute kidney injury guideline which was published last year and gives recommendations across broad areas of care to help prevent, detect and treat acute kidney injury.
About NICE
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for driving improvement and excellence in the health and social care system. We develop guidance, standards and information on high-quality health and social care. We also advise on ways to promote healthy living and prevent ill health.
Our aim is to help practitioners deliver the best possible care and give people the most effective treatments, which are based on the most up-to-date evidence and provide value for money, in order to reduce inequalities and variation.
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