Background:

Non-critical care Hospital-Acquired Acute Kidney Injury (Non-ICU HA-AKI) is a preventable common complication.

Aim:

To analyze its risk factors and outcomes in a general hospital ward.

Material and Methods:

A retrospective paired case-control 1:2 study was carried out from April to December 2014. Non-ICU HA-AKI was defined as those patients who experienced a 1.5-fold, or 0.3 mg/dl rise in serum creatinine after 24 hours of hospitalization. Controls were randomly selected, paired by date of hospital admission and specialty causing the admission. We analyzed short-term outcomes and risk factors.

Results:

We included 101cases aged 65 ± 16 years (55% women). Mean length of stay at the time of diagnosis of AKI was 7.9 ± 8.9 days. Hospital length of stay was longer in patients with AKI (p < 0.01), The risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and mortality were also higher (odds ratio [OR], 2.43 [95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.24 to 4.75)p < 0.01 and OR, 26.2 [95% CI, 8.8 to 104, P < 0.01). In a multivariate analysis, sepsis (OR, 3.64 [95% CI, 1.30 to 10.16] p = 0.013), dehydration (OR, 14.4 [95% CI, 4.49 to 46.19), baseline glomerular filtration (OR, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.94-0.98), contrast medium exposure (OR, 4.33 [95% CI, 1.60 to 11.66), recent exposure to Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (OR 3.23 [95% CI, 1.22 to 8.52 (p = 0.02)] and Charlson comorbidity index (OR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.05 to 1.43 (p < 0.01) were independent risk factors for Non-ICU HA-AKI.

Conclusions:

Non-ICU HA-AKI is associated with a longer hospital stay and higher risk of ICU admission and mortality. Most risk factors are potentially preventable.