acute renal insufficiency the same as acute renal failure?

rita359 · Sep 25, 2011

Don't have references but look at dehydration. This is what I've seen causing elevated cr and bun. With dehydration it clears up once hydrated.

ERsn · Sep 25, 2011

Thank you Rita for your input

Does this mean that Acute Renal Insufficiency and Renal Failure are the same thing?

rita359 · Sep 26, 2011

As you can see from age, many years since school. My judgement is they are not they same though related. In dehydration bun and cr rise but return to normal with hydration. There was recent article in a nursing journal regarding acute renal injury suggesting that post op bp drop with drop in output could, down the road , result in renal failure and need for dialysis. In renal failure dialysis is needed to correct.

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · Sep 26, 2011

In renal failure dialysis is needed to correct.

In end-stage renal disease, this is true. However, a lot of times dialysis is NOT needed for Acute Renal Failure. Apparently, the appropriate term isn't even Acute Renal Failure...it's Acute Kidney Injury.

There is the prerenal cause, usually dehydration, that corrects with fluids. It's because the "failure" or "injury" occurs prior to kidney involvement. This is corrected with fluids, for example.

Intrarenal failure is because of something WITHIN the kidney (glomerulonephritis, for example). And Post Renal occurs AFTER the kidney has filtered, so there is some sort of obstruction. Getting rid of this obstruction returns lab values to normal.

As for Acute Renal Insufficiency, I have never heard this term. My guess is that one of the above is occurring but lab values and/or urine production hasn't QUITE reached renal failure levels?