Acute Renal Failure Essay

The characteristic beginning signs of HF include inadequate tissue perfusion and signs of volume overload. Inadequate blood flow to tissues can be evident by fatigue, shortness of breath, and exercise intolerance. Volume overload is evident by peripheral and pulmonary edema (fluid collection in the limbs and on the lungs) and venous distention (due to blood pooling in circulation from back flow in the heart) (Lehne, 2010).

Injury to the glomerulus and the tubules presents the onset of Intra-renal failure (Matzke, 2011). Some of the frequent causes for Intra-renal failure are glomerulonephritis; pyelonephritis; and tubular injury. Post-renal failure develops from things like ureteroliths, tumors, or anatomic impediments. Opposite of the acute form, the chronic form has a slow onset that has no early stage symptoms. It is important to know that following an acute episode a chronic renal episode often follows, and at this juncture the damage is irreversible. Glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis combined, has been reported to be the forerunner in as much as half the cases from acute to chronic renal failure. Diabetes mellitus, renal vascular disease, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, polycystic kidney disease, drug damage, and nephrolith are all examples of other causes of CKD (Pradeep, 2014). Biopsies of kidneys that suffered with CKD reveal smaller kidneys with scarring on the tubules.

Acute renal failure occurs quickly over a period of days or weeks with a reduction in GFR and elevation of BUN, plasma creatinine and crystatin C levels. Oliguria (urine output of < 30ml/hr or < 400 ml/day) is usually associated with ARF, although urine output may be normal or increased as well. Fluid is still filtered at the glomerulus but there is an alteration in tubular secretion or reabsorption. Most types of ARF are reversible if diagnosed and treated early (Perrin, 2009).

Differentiate between the causes, signs and symptoms, and diagnostic findings in pre- renal, intra-renal, and post-renal failure.

This is sudden injury to the kidneys which stops them working instantly or nearly instantly, AKI can range from the kidneys only to stop functioning slightly or to completely stop working. Due to the name of it some people think that it is physical injury or blow to the kidneys however it is a result in complications of other conditions. It is usually seen in older people who are very unwell and get admitted to hospital, it’s vital that AKI is detected quickly as if AKI

Lily was a 65 year old lady with stage 5 CKD, she had recently begun hemodialysis treatment three times a week as an inpatient and had been responding well to treatment. During dialysis treatment on the morning of the first day, Lily’s observations showed that she was: tachycardic, hypotensive, tachypnoeaic, had an oxygen saturation level of 88% and was becoming confused and drowsy. It became apparent that Lily had become hypovolaemic. The hypovolaemic shock seen in this patient was of a particular critical nature due to the fact that her dialysis treatment had moved her rapidly through the first two stages of shock with her compensatory mechanisms failing very quickly (Tait, 2012). It was also much harder to identify the early signs of

CKD will cause the body to retain many excess fluids and waste that are normally filtered out to prevent internal harm throughout the body. With kidney disease there will be a rise in blood pressure due to the amount of extra fluid that is retained in the blood vessels. This fluid retention will cause the passageways to become narrow and make blood passage through the vessels increasingly difficult, in turn causing an increase in blood pressure. There will also be an increase in protein and blood found in the urine because it is not filtered out properly by the kidneys. Swelling will occur in the extremities and around the eyes because of the fluid retention as well. The longer the urine goes unfiltered the harder it may become to urinate due to pain or blockage or there may be more frequent night time urination (The National Kidney Foundation, 12).

Imagine that one of your loved ones are in the hospital… they’re very sick and you don’t know what is wrong. The doctor comes in and tells you that your loved one is having kidney failure

Kidney failure is the result of kidney disease that has either not been treated, or failed to respond to treatment. Some kidney diseases are: Acute kidney failure (potentially reversible), Acute nephritic syndrome, Goodpasture syndrome, Atheroembolic renal disease, Glomerulonephritis, Polycystic kidney disease, and chronic kidney failure (end stage) (United States National Library, 2010). The usual treatment for kidney failure is medication and dialysis. Dialysis is used for end stage kidney failure, when the patient has lost

pain. The second stage is the chronic renal failure, which is accompanied by feelings of

Drug therapy consists of; Lasix, antihypertensives, antiemetics, H-2 blockers, erythropoietin, vitamins and electrolyte balancing agents (phosphate, calcium, V-D, Vit-B, and amino acids. Dialysis is mostly the patient’s only way of survival. Nutritional therapy is encouraging patients to avoid ↑Ca and ↑ protein foods. Fluid restriction is important since the kidneys have a difficult time excreting. If left untreated the patient would essentially die. The fluid overload combined with the toxicity of the left over wastes would shut down the body’s organs and death would occur.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is among the leading causes of mortality throughout the world, and its prevalence and the health care costs resulting from it are considerable and increasing. CKD commonly is silent and asymptomatic until its late stages. Accordingly, CKD is diagnosed prior to symptomatic stage of kidney failure, resulting in delays in proper interventions and the emergence of adverse consequences in the CKD patients

Mr. Armstrong has a history of renal insufficiency and uncontrolled hypertension, along with symptoms of fatigue, pedal edema, and occasional shortness of breath. He does not have a history of trauma or obstruction to his kidneys, but his creatinine and BUN levels are currently at 3.5 mg/dl and 40 mg/dl. Normal creatinine concentration values are 0.7 to 1.2 mg/dl and normal BUN values are 10 to 20 mg/dl; this reveals that Mr. Armstrong’s kidneys are not removing wastes properly (McCance, Huether, Brashers, & Rote, 2014).  Mr. Armstrong’s history of renal insufficiency and uncontrolled hypertension is commonly found in patients diagnosed with intrarenal (intrinsic) acute renal failure. Intrarenal acute renal failure can be categorized as

High blood pressure which is called hypertension is another common disease which can cause chronic renal failure. This

common in patients who have had kidney transplantation.22 There are several causes that lead to