How do I rapidly and correctly identify acute kidney injury?

The occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is often the final step of a process that (1) failed in preventing significant kidney hits in highly susceptible patients, or (2) failed in preventing the progression of a subclinical AKI when a relatively minor kidney insult has still occurred. AKI diagnosis and timely identification is the mainstay of its therapeutic approach. This is particularly true in patients with numerous clinical risk factors, but also in those with apparently lower kidney susceptibility (in case they were in an unacknowledged state of subclinical AKI). The following paragraphs will describe the utility of biomarkers and the importance of a standardized AKI definition to help clinicians in accurately identifying the renal status of their patients.