Diuretics in the management of acute kidney injury: a multinational survey

Abstract

Background: Diuretics are a common intervention in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). However, there is no information that describes the practice patterns of diuretic use by clinicians.

Methods: Multinational, multicenter survey of intensive care and nephrology clinicians that utilized an 18-question self-reported questionnaire.

Results: The survey generated 331 responses from 16 countries. Academic institutions comprised 77.5%, with the remaining being from metropolitan, regional or private hospitals. The use of furosemide was most common (67.1%), delivered primarily intravenously (71.9%) and by bolus dosing (43.3%). Other diuretics were infrequently used. The majority rated current serum creatinine (73.6%) and urine output (73.4%), blood pressure (59.7%), central venous pressure (65.2%) and risk of toxicity (62.4%) important when deciding on a dose. Pulmonary edema was a prime physiologic indication for diuretic use (86.3%). Diuretic use was also common with rhabdomyolysis (55.6%), major surgery (56%), and cardiogenic shock (56.2%), and sepsis (49.5%). Diuretic use was most commonly given either prior to (57.7%) or during recovery (33.9%) after renal replacement therapy (RRT). Most (76.6%) targeted a diuresis of >or=0.5-1.0 ml/kg/h. The majority did not believe that diuretics could reduce mortality (74.3%), reduce need for (50.8%) or duration of RRT (57.8%) or improve renal recovery (68.2%), however, many stated uncertainty. Most (85.1%) would be willing to participate in a randomized trial (RCT) of diuretics in AKI with 72.4% believing it ethically acceptable to allocate patients to placebo.

Conclusion: Diuretics are frequently used in AKI. Clinicians are most familiar with furosemide given intravenously and titrated to a physiologic endpoint of urine output. Most clinicians believe an RCT on diuretic use in AKI is justified and ethical. This survey confirms clinical agreement and a need for higher quality evidence on diuretic use in AKI.