More intensive dialysis does not improve outcomes among patients with acute kidney injury

No significant difference in death rates or other outcomes was found between a group of patients with acute kidney injury that received intensive dialysis and another group that received a more standard regimen of dialysis, according to a joint Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) study published in the June issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Acute kidney injury, also called acute renal failure, is a common complication in hospitalized patients that is associated with very high mortality rates. In-hospital mortality rates of critically-ill patients typically range from 50 percent to 80 percent.