AACC Releases Guidance on Improving Care for Acute Kidney Injury With Clinical Laboratory Tests News provided by Share this article Share this article WASHINGTON, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past decade, experts' understanding of testing for acute kidney injury (AKI) has evolved significantly, but current medical practice has not yet caught up with the latest research in this area. AACC has therefore issued a new guidance document on AKI that provides laboratory and other healthcare professionals with the most up to date best practices for diagnosing and managing this potentially fatal condition. AKI, which is defined as a sudden episode of kidney damage or failure, is a condition that affects up to 15% of hospitalized patients and can lead to serious complications or death. A wide range of causes can trigger AKI—from major surgical procedures to medications that affect kidney function—and its symptoms can vary depending on the underlying cause, making it a challenging condition to diagnose and treat. It is therefore essential that clinical laboratory professionals and clinicians know what the right tools are for diagnosing AKI. However, current approaches to detecting this condition differ widely throughout the medical community due to factors such as inconsistent integration of new findings on AKI into clinical practice. This has led to considerable disparities in the identification and management of AKI around the world, and underscores the need for a uniform set of best practices on testing for this condition.