Identifying children in hospital at risk of acute kidney injury
We caught up with Dr Steve McWilliam, from the University of Liverpool, who was awarded a Start-Up grant in 2023 of £40,000 to develop a model for predicting which children in hospital are at risk of acute kidney injury.
What is acute kidney injury?
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is when your kidneys suddenly stop working properly. Although AKI is usually temporary, it is a serious condition which can have longer lasting effects on your health, including your kidney function. One of the most common causes of AKI is certain medicines, used to treat other illnesses, which can sometimes be harmful to the kidneys.
Why are children in hospital at risk of AKI?
AKI happens in around 1 in 40 children in hospital. There are several causes of AKI, one of these being certain medications. Although most children recover from AKI, for some it can have a serious effect on their long term health. These children are more likely to spend longer time in hospital, develop chronic kidney disease in the future, and have a higher risk of death.
The Alder Hey Children’s hospital is one of only three hospitals in the UK with a dedicated acute kidney injury service for children. This service was set up in 2018, led by Dr Steve McWilliam and supported by AKI clinical nurse specialist, Holly Durrington. Through the service every child who has a severe AKI at Alder Hey Children’s hospital is followed up for at least three years to monitor their kidney health. The service also works with other hospital departments to improve education and awareness about AKI. The aim of the service is to improve outcomes for children who develop AKI in hospital.
Developing better ways of identifying AKI risk in hospitalised children
Steve and his team are looking at healthcare records from children at Alder Hey Children's hospital to identify factors that might be linked to developing AKI. This will be used to develop a model to predict which children are at risk of AKI.
What could this mean for patients?
By learning more about what leads to a high AKI risk in hospitalised children, Steve and his team hope to support the development of tools to help doctors identify AKI risk sooner and protect kidney health.
“Children in hospital are particularly at risk of developing AKI, which can have a lasting impact on kidney health. By understanding what factors, and combinations of factors, lead to AKI developing, this would mean we can develop tools in the future that alert healthcare professionals to AKI risk. This would allow them to make interventions to try to protect kidney health and improve outcomes for these children.
“We have analysed several years’ worth of data, which has given us strong insights into which factors contribute to AKI development. I am delighted to be working with Louise Bracken on a new project to use what we have learnt to develop a real time tool for healthcare professionals to alert them to AKI risk in hospitalised children.” Dr Steve McWilliam
More AKI research
Read about other research we're funding by Dr Louise Braken and her team, who are looking to understand how certain medicines increase the risk of children developing acute kidney injury in hospital.
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