Risk of Acute Kidney Injury from Contrast-Media Procedure Low

The risk of developing an acute kidney injury (AKI) following imaging that requires contrast media is low, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Researchers from the UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston, Texas, evaluated risk predictors of AKI after contrast-media procedures performed on 2,737,020 people between January 1, 2012, and November 30, 2014. The information was collected from comprehensive medical and pharmacy commercial claims data.

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The results showed that AKI after a contrast-media procedure occurred in 26% of patients who underwent two or more procedures within a month. This compares with 9% of non-AKI cases. The overall incidence of AKI after a contrast-media procedure was 0.85%. Ten percent of patients who developed AKI had a recent previous episode of AKI. When AKI had occurred within 180 days of contrast administration, the odds of subsequent kidney injury was 9.39.

The researchers concluded while the overall risk of developing AKI after a contrast-media procedure, patients who did experience AKI shortly before the procedure had a higher risk of developing AKI again.