Acute Kidney Injury after Cardiac Surgery.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI) remains a vexing issue. Clinical trials for the prevention of CS-AKI have been disappointing despite enormous initial enthusiasm based on experimental data. SUMMARY: The schism in experimental and clinical data has triggered a relook at our understanding of CS-AKI and the experimental and preclinical models. In this review, we discuss the therapeutic targets of major clinical trials. KEY MESSAGES The silver lining in the midst is the standardization of anesthetic and perioperative care proposed by national societies. Implementation of the KDIGO bundle is a reasonable option to decrease the incidence of CS-AKI despite lack of proven robust benefits.