Dirkes Susan M, Kozlowski Charles
Surgical Intensive Care Unit, University of Michigan Hospitals, USA.
Nephrol Nurs J. 2003 Dec;30(6):611-4, 619-20.
Acute renal failure (ARF) is a syndrome that occurs frequently in critically ill patients. Current treatments for ARF in the intensive care unit (ICU) include intermittent hemodialysis and continuous renal replacement therapies. These treatments provide for the replacement of some functions of the kidney, such as water and waste removal, but they do not provide the metabolic, immunologic or endocrine functions of the kidney. A new bioartificial kidney device has been developed that appears to more completely replace the functions of the failed kidney and is termed the Renal Assist Device (RAD). This article will describe the syndrome of ARF and the use of the RAD device, currently in clinical trials in critically ill patients with ARF.
