Management of Acute Renal Failure in Children

The child now needs dialysis to gain control of hyperkalaemia and acidosis and allow the administration of blood.

The child was started on haemodialysis and supportive therapy is maintained until the kidneys recover and urine production returns.

Important lessons are:

• the importance of fluid resuscitation in treating prerenal failure and trying to prevent renal failure becoming established.
• that there is often more than one cause of renal failure going on in the same patient, in this case a prerenal problem with dehydration and a renal cause - the HUS.
• that close attention must be paid to fluid and electrolyte balance.

You can now either return to the introduction page to access the other case history or proceed to a summary page.