Mild acute kidney injury after pediatric surgery is not-associated with long-term renal dysfunction: A retrospective cohort study

Background and study objective: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden deterioration in renal function and is common in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac and non-cardiac surgery. Few studies have investigated the association of postoperative AKI with kidney dysfunction seen long-term and other adverse outcomes in pediatric patients. The study aimed to determine the association between postoperative AKI (mild AKI vs. no AKI and mild AKI vs. moderate-severe AKI) and chronic kidney dysfunction (CKD) seen long-term in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac and non-cardiac major surgery. Design: Restrospective, cohort study. Setting: Tertiary care hospital. Patients: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged 2–18 years who underwent cardiac and non-cardiac major surgery lasting >2 h at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus between June 2005 and December 2020. Measurements: Postoperative AKI and CKD seen in long-term were defined and staged according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria. Main results: Among 10,597 children who had cardiac and non-cardiac major surgery, 1,302 were eligible. A total of 682 patients were excluded for missing variables and baseline kidney dysfunction and 620 patients were included. The mean age was 11 years, and 307 (49.5%) were female. Postoperative mild AKI was detected in 5.8% of the patients, while moderate-severe AKI was detected in 2.4%. There was no significant difference in CKD seen in long-term between patients with and without postoperative AKI, p = 0.83. The CKD seen in long-term developed in 27.7% of patients with postoperative mild AKI and 33.3% of patients with postoperative moderate and severe AKI. Patients without postoperative AKI had an estimated 1.09 times higher odds of having CKD seen in long-term compared with patients who have postoperative mild AKI (odds ratio [95% CI] 1.09 [0.48,2.52]). Conclusion: In contrast to adult patients, the authors did not find any association between postoperative AKI and CKD seen in long-term in pediatric patients.