Kidney Injury Up During Pregnancy-Related Hospitalizations

WEDNESDAY, April 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The rates of pregnancy-related acute kidney injury (AKI) hospitalizations increased during the last decade, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Nephrology.

Silvi Shah, M.D., from the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2006 to 2015) to identify 42,190,790 pregnancy-related hospitalizations among women aged 15 to 49 years. Factors associated with AKI were evaluated.

The researchers found that overall, the rate of AKI during pregnancy-related hospitalizations was 0.08 percent. A higher likelihood of AKI during pregnancy-related hospitalizations was seen in 2015 versus 2006 (odds ratio [OR], 2.20); among older women aged 36 to 40 years (OR, 1.49) and 41 to 49 years (OR, 2.12) versus women aged 20 to 25 years; among blacks (OR, 1.52) and Native Americans (OR, 1.45) versus whites; and in women with diabetes (OR, 4.43) versus those without diabetes. Pregnancy-related hospitalizations with AKI were associated with a higher likelihood of inpatient mortality (OR, 13.50) and cardiovascular events (OR, 9.74). For a delivery hospitalization with AKI, the median cost was higher ($18,072 versus $4,447 without AKI).

“I encourage clinicians to routinely check patient kidney panels during inpatient hospitalizations,” Shah said in a statement. “This study suggests that implementation of specific interventions for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of AKI in pregnant women may reduce the burden of AKI during hospitalizations in the United States.”

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