Peritoneal dialysis in the neonatal intensive care unit. Management of acute renal failure after a severe subgaleal hemorrhage.

Acute renal failure is common in the neonatal intensive care unit but is often not recognized in its early phases, when it is potentially reversible. The typical patient with acute renal failure is premature, but many term infants are also at risk. One such group is those with severe bleeding, such as a subgaleal hemorrhage. In these cases, hypovolemia can quickly progress to ischemia, which affects many organs but has profound effects on the kidney. In term infants, acute renal failure is most commonly diagnosed in those with perinatal depression. This article presents a unique case of an infant with subgaleal and intracranial bleeding that resulted in acute renal failure requiring peritoneal dialysis in the hopes of the eventual restoration of kidney function.