Exploiting Machine Learning Technologies to Study the Compound Effects of Serum Creatinine and Electrolytes on the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Intensive Care Units

Assessing the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been a challenging issue for clinicians in intensive care units (ICUs). In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the associations between several serum electrolytes and AKI. Nevertheless, the compound effects of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and clinically relevant serum electrolytes have yet to be comprehensively investigated. Accordingly, we initiated this study aiming to develop machine learning models that illustrate how these factors interact with each other. In particular, we focused on ICU patients without a prior history of AKI or AKI-related comorbidities. With this practice, we were able to examine the associations between the levels of serum electrolytes and renal function in a more controlled manner. Our analyses revealed that the levels of serum creatinine, chloride, and magnesium were the three major factors to be monitored for this group of patients. In summary, our results can provide valuable insights for developing early intervention and effective management strategies as well as crucial clues for future investigations of the pathophysiological mechanisms that are involved. In future studies, subgroup analyses based on different causes of AKI should be conducted to further enhance our understanding of AKI.