Background

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common after cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass. Renal hypoxia may precede clinically detectable AKI. We compared the efficacy of two indices of renal hypoxia, (i) intraoperative urinary oxygen tension (UPO₂) and (ii) the change in plasma erythropoietin (pEPO) during surgery, in predicting AKI. We also investigated whether the performance of these prognostic markers varies with preoperative patient characteristics.

Methods

In 82 patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery, blood samples were taken upon induction of anesthesia and upon entry into the intensive care unit. UPO₂ was continuously measured throughout surgery.

Results

Thirty-two (39%) patients developed postoperative AKI. pEPO increased during surgery, but this increase did not predict AKI, regardless of risk of postoperative mortality assessed by EuroSCORE-II. For patients categorized at higher risk by EuroSCORE-II >1.98 (median score for the cohort), UPO₂ ≤10 mmHg at any time during surgery predicted a 4.04-fold excess risk of AKI (p = .04). However, UPO₂ did not significantly predict AKI in lower-risk patients. UPO₂ significantly predicted AKI in patients who were older, had previous myocardial infarction, diabetes, lower preoperative serum creatinine, or shorter bypass times. pEPO and UPO₂ were only weakly correlated.

Conclusions

Intraoperative change in pEPO does not predict AKI. However, UPO₂ shows promise, particularly in patients with higher risk of operative mortality. The disparity between these two markers of renal hypoxia may indicate that UPO₂ reflects medullary oxygenation whereas pEPO reflects cortical oxygenation.