Acute kidney injury happens when the kidneys suddenly stop filtering waste from the blood, often during serious illness, surgery, or from certain medications. It affects millions of people each year in hospitals. Some cases resolve completely with supportive care, but AKI can lead to chronic kidney disease or require dialysis in severe cases.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing drugs that protect kidney cells during injury, improve blood flow to the kidneys, and reduce inflammation that damages filtering units. Researchers are studying biomarkers that detect AKI earlier than current tests, and testing whether earlier intervention prevents long-term damage. Cell therapy and regenerative approaches are being explored for severe cases.
Early detection biomarkers
New blood and urine tests can detect kidney injury hours before creatinine rises, the current standard. Trials are testing whether catching AKI earlier allows interventions that prevent permanent damage.
Kidney protection drugs
Several drugs aim to protect kidney cells from dying during injury caused by sepsis, surgery, or contrast dye. These include drugs that improve kidney blood flow and reduce oxidative stress in kidney tissue.
Remote monitoring
Studies are testing whether continuous monitoring of kidney function in high-risk patients prevents AKI or catches it at a reversible stage. This includes tracking urine output and real-time lab values in hospital settings.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on AKI stage, underlying cause, baseline kidney function, and whether AKI occurred in the hospital or community setting.
What types of trials are currently open
- Prevention trials — Testing drugs or fluids given before surgery or contrast scans to prevent AKI in high-risk patients.
- Treatment trials — Testing medications that reduce kidney inflammation or protect kidney cells once AKI has started.
- Biomarker studies — Evaluating new tests that detect kidney injury earlier than creatinine, the current standard blood test.
- Dialysis timing trials — Comparing outcomes when dialysis is started early versus waiting for clear indications in severe AKI.
- Observational studies — Following patients who have had AKI to understand long-term kidney outcomes and what predicts recovery versus progression to chronic kidney disease.
Recently added Acute Kidney Injury trials
Take antibiotics while researchers monitor your kidney health
This study examines in hospitalized patients, treated with sulfamethoxazole, high dose ciprofloxacin or high dose iv amoxicillin, the incidence of drug-induced urinary crystal formation and its association with acute kidney injury development.
Complete kidney function scans during and after heart surgery
brief summary：The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the value of perioperative transcutaneous fluorescence glomerular filtration rate (GFR) monitoring for the early prediction and diagnosis of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) and contrast-associated acute kidney injury(CA-AKI) in adult patients. The main questions it aims to answer are: Can perioperative GFR or peri-contast trajectories measured by a transcutaneous fluorescence monitoring system predict the development of CSA-AKI or CA-AKI before conventional diagnostic criteria are met? What changes in perioperative or peri-contast GFR trajectories are associated with the occurrence and severity of CSA-AKI or CA-AKI? Participants scheduled for cardiovascular surgery or contast-enhanced CT scan or PCI will undergo continuous perioperative transcutaneous GFR monitoring following intravenous administration of a fluorescent tracer. Clinical characteristics, perioperative or peri-contast hemodynamic data, laboratory measurements, imaging findings, and postoperative or post-contast outcomes will be collected to evaluate the predictive and diagnostic performance of perioperative or peri-contrast GFR trajectories for CSA-AKI or PC-AKI.
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