anemia question

[Al Kalosis]

Hi all, I am confused by something in one of my textbooks and was hoping someone would be kind enough to explain it to me. In case you are wondering, this is not a homework assignment, I promise. It is for my own understanding. One of my textbooks claims that patients with acute kidney injury may experience anemia due to the BUN being so elevated that it causes red blood cells to lyse. How or why does this occur? I am not asking about the associations between kidney disease and anemia generally, but rather this specific circumstance. I have looked in other textbooks, journal articles, and the vast and dubious internet, but cannot seem to find an explanation. Any thoughts?

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

Most of the studies available come to the conclusion that there is a multi-factorial cause to the anemia which result from AKIs. So, there's really no black & white answer to your question.

[Al Kalosis]

Most of the studies available come to the conclusion that there is a multi-factorial cause to the anemia which result from AKIs. So, there's really no black & white answer to your question.

Thanks for the response. But based on your answer, it seems the wording in my original post must have been unclear. My question is not, "What causes anemia in AKI patients?" My question is, "Why would an elevated BUN cause RBCs to burst?"

[shan_elle]

Best answer I could find: The Causes Of Anemia In Uremia Patients_Kidney Cares Community All of the peer-reviewed articles I found were out dated and didn't completely answer your question.