Incidence of acute renal failure in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a Hospital in Sao Paulo

Objectives: To describe the incidence of acute renal failure (ARF) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a hospital in Sao Paulo and to verify the use of the "risk of renal failure, injury to the kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function and end-stage renal failure (RIFLE)" classification for the allocation of the neonates. Methods: Review of medical records of neonates from April 4 to April 25, 2008. Results: Of the 19 admissions in the NICU, 10 were diagnosed as ARF according to the RIFLE classification. The neonates diagnosed with ARF were referred to the dialysis service. Conclusion: Although this study had a very small sample size, the findings indicate that ARF represents 10% of the primary diagnosis among our sample of neonates admitted to the NICU. Large and longer studies are necessary to evaluate the incidence of ARF in the NICU.