Observational Study Measuring Essential Nutrients in Critically Ill Patients With Severe Acute Kidney Injury Treated With and Without Continuous Haemofiltration

Background: Critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) have a high risk of dying, especially if renal replacement therapy (RRT) is needed. It remains uncertain whether essential trace elements, vitamins and amino acids are lost during RRT in sufficient amounts to result in clinically significant deficiencies. At present, nutrition guidelines for patients with AKI on RRT do not account for any potential losses of micronutrients across the filter.

Hypothesis:

Critically ill patients with AKI have inadequate plasma nutrient levels. If continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is required, there are additional losses of essential nutrients.

Aims:

To serially measure plasma levels of essential vitamins, trace elements and amino acids in critically ill patients with severe AKI and to evaluate whether there are any additional losses into the filtrate during CRRT