TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- From 1997 to 2022, there was an increase in the absolute number and rate of pediatric hospitalizations complicated by acute kidney injury (AKI) and AKI requiring dialysis (AKI-D), according to a study published online Sept. 22 in JAMA Network Open.
Alexander J. Kula, M.D., from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, and colleagues defined national trends in pediatric hospitalizations with a diagnosis of AKI or AKI-D between 1997 and 2022 in a retrospective cohort study. The final analysis included 24,344,876 discharges from 1997 to 2022.
The researchers found that an estimated 253,138 hospitalizations were complicated by AKI overall, using weighted data. There was an increase in the weighted yearly incidence of AKI and AKI-D, from 6,318 and 981 cases/year, respectively, in 1997 to 63,923 and 2,075 cases/year, respectively, in 2022. Per 10,000, the rates of AKI-D increased from 2.4 to 5.5. There was a decrease in the mortality rate of hospitalizations with AKI from 1,814 to 643 per 10,000 from 2003 to 2022.
"Pediatric health systems must be prepared to handle the short- and long-term impacts of pediatric AKI," the authors write. "Since pediatric AKI is associated with higher rates of hypertension and chronic kidney disease, there may be a sizable and growing population of children transitioning to adult care at risk for these outcomes."
One author disclosed receipt of consulting fees from Mozarc Medical.
