Low-contrast dose protection protocol for diagnostic computed tomography in patients at high-risk for contrast-induced nephropathy.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of a low-contrast dose computed tomography (CT) protocol for patients with renal insufficiency for contrast-induced nephropathy. METHODS: One hundred forty-three patients with renal insufficiency who underwent low-contrast dose-enhanced abdominal CT were reviewed. Another group of 327 patients who received unenhanced CT was reviewed as a control group. Baseline serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels were obtained for all patients to determine the contrast dosing (1.6 and 1.0 mL/kg for patients with eGFR levels 30-59 and 15-29). We compared the incidence of acute kidney injury between the groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the incidence of acute kidney injury between the low-contrast dose and unenhanced CT protocols (9.1% vs 8.3%, P = 0.77). None of the patients with renal dysfunction required postprocedure dialysis. CONCLUSION: The low-contrast dose CT protocol might enable us to perform a contrast-enhanced study without any major safety concerns.