Dyschloremia is associated with failure to restore renal function in survivors with acute kidney injury: an observation retrospective study

Dyschloremia is common in critically ill patients. However, little is known about the effects of dyschloremia on renal function in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). A total of 483 patients who received CRRT for AKI were selected and divided into three groups according to their serum chloride concentrations at the time of CRRT initiation. At 90 days after initiating CRRT, renal outcome, i.e., non-complete renal recovery, or renal failure, was assessed in the three groups. The hypochloremia group (serum chloride concentrations < 96 mEq/L, n = 60), the normochloremia group (serum chloride concentrations, 96–111 mEq/L, n = 345), and the hyperchloremia group (serum chloride concentrations > 111 mEq/L, n = 78) were classified. The simplified acute physiology score III was higher in the hyperchloremia and hypochloremia groups than in the normochloremia group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that hypochloremia (odds ratio, 5.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.56–10.23; P < 0.001) and hyperchloremia (odds ratio, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.25–5.13; P = 0.01) were significantly associated with non-complete renal recovery. Similar trends were observed for renal failure. This study showed that dyschloremia was independently associated with failure in restoring renal function following AKI.