Background: Acute kidney injury in severely burned patients is associated with high mortality. We wondered whether early use of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) changes outcomes in severely burned military casualties with predetermined criteria for acute kidney injury.
Methods: Between November 2005 and June 2007, casualties admitted to our burn intensive care unit after sustaining burns in Iraq and Afghanistan, who subsequently developed acute kidney injury or circulatory shock or both, underwent CRRT. Baseline demographic, laboratory, and hemodynamic parameters were recorded. Both 28-day mortality and in- hospital mortality were evaluated and compared with a consecutive group of burn casualties with greater than 40% total body surface area (TBSA) burns, acute kidney injury, or nephrology consultation in the 2 years before the existence of our CRRT program.
Results: One hundred forty-seven severely burned military casualties were admitted to our intensive care unit before CRRT program initiation, and 102 were admitted after CRRT program initiation. Before the CRRT program, 16 patients were identified as having >40% TBSA burns with kidney injury with or without nephrology consultation (control group); 18 were treated with CRRT since (CRRT group). Groups were similar for %TBSA, %full-thickness TBSA, incidence of inhalation injury, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and Injury Severity Score. Of the CRRT patients, seven soldiers were treated for isolated acute kidney injury, whereas 11 were treated for a combination of acute kidney injury and shock. The dose of therapy was 50.2 +/- 13 mL/kg/h with a treatment course of 5.2 +/- 3 days. Of the 11 patients in the CRRT group treated for shock, eight were off vasopressors by 24 hours and the remaining three within 48 hours. None of the patients in the control group were placed on renal replacement therapy with nephrology consultation in eight patients. Both 28-day mortality (22% vs. 75%, p = 0.002) and in-hospital mortality (56% vs. 88%, p = 0.04) were lower in the CRRT group compared with that in the control group.
Conclusion: Aggressive application of CRRT in severely burned casualties with kidney injury significantly improves survival.