Acute Kidney injury is also recognized as an acute renal failure that is defined as an abrupt reduction in kidney function that develops for several hours in a day (Waugh, 1959). The cause of the acute renal failure is divided into three categories: Prerenal, Intrarenal and post-renal.
Prerenal Acute Renal Failure it occurs after there is an unexpected decrease in blood flow to the kidney that causes a loss of kidney function (Seibert et al., 2016). In other words, it is a condition that causes reduction of normal flow of blood through the kidney. The following are the examples causing prerenal acute renal failure:
Severe dehydration that is caused by excessive loss of fluid
Some of the medicines that may interrupt with blood provision to the kidney such as ACE inhibitors
Low blood pressure accompanied by severe blood loss and also Liver diseases such as cirrhosis that create abdominal fluid shifts.
Intrarenal Acute Renal failure occurs if there is a direct trauma in the kidney causing loss of kidney function. It is also caused by ischemia, which is defined as insufficient supply of oxygen to the kidney. It is a problem that affects kidney itself because it prevents proper blood filtration or even production of urine. Examples explaining causes of Intrarenal Acute renal failures are:
Diseases of tubules (space between parts of tissues),
Acute tubular necrosis such as Ischemia (inadequate blood flow to the kidney) and
Vascular diseases such as acute glomerulonephritis and vasculitis (blood vessels inflammation)
Postrenal acute renal failure occurs as a result of severe obstruction in the urinary track affecting the normal flow of urine out of the kidneys. The blockage of the urinary track leads to building up of urine in one or both kidneys. Some of the examples that cause post renal acute renal failure include:
Kidney stones developing in the urethra,
Blood clots in the urethra and
Nervous system disorders that may be caused by stroke, spinal cord injury and multi sclerosis
References
Seibert, F., Rosenberger, C., Mathia, S., Arndt, (2016). Urinary Differentiates Between Prerenal and Intrinsic Acute Renal Failure. Transplantation,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/tp.0000000000001124
Waugh, W. (1959). Functional Types of Acute Renal Failure and Their Early Diagnosis. Arch Intern Med, 103(5), 686. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1959.00270050008003
