Long-Term Outcomes of Patients Who Receive Short-Term Dialysis

Patients with severe acute kidney injury who require dialysis have high mortality, and as many as 15% of survivors require chronic dialysis. However, outcomes for patients who suffer acute kidney injury but recover enough function to be discharged without continued dialysis are unknown.

Canadian researchers conducted a study of 3769 patients with acute kidney injury who required hospital dialysis and survived dialysis free for at least 30 days after discharge between 1996 and 2006. Dialysis patients (cases) were matched by age, sex, kidney disease history, and other variables with 13,598 hospitalized controls without acute kidney injury or dialysis. After a median follow-up of 3 years, incidence of chronic dialysis was significantly higher a…