Incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of gastrointestinal hemorrhage complicating acute renal failure

Incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of gastrointestinal hemorrhage complicating acute renal failure.BackgroundFew prospective data are currently available on acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage (AGIH) as a complication of acute renal failure (ARF). The aim of the present study was to define incidence, sources, risk factors, and outcome of AGIH in patients with ARF.MethodsWe performed a prospective study on an inception cohort of 514 patients admitted for ARF to a nephrology intermediate care unit. Data on clinical risk factors for bleeding, frequency of occurrence of AGIH, length of hospital stay, and in-hospital mortality were collected. Independent predictors of AGIH were identified. The relative odds of death and the relative increase in length of hospital stay associated with AGIH were calculated after adjusting for baseline comorbidities.ResultsSixty-nine patients out of 514 [13.4% (95% CI, 10.6 to 16.7)] had AGIH as a complication of ARF; 59 were upper AGIH. Forty patients had clinically important bleeding. Erosions and/or ulcers accounted for 71% of cases of upper AGIH. Independent baseline predictors of AGIH were represented by severity of illness [odds ratio 1.45 (95% CI, 1.05 to 2.01) for every 10 point increase in APACHE II score], low platelet count [