Risk of incident bleeding after acute kidney injury: A retrospective cohort study

Purpose: End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) causes bleeding diathesis: however, whether these findings are extrapolable to acute kidney injury (AKI) remains uncertain. We assessed whether AKI is associated with an increased risk of bleeding. Methods: Single-center retrospective cohort study, excluding readmissions, admissions <24 h, ESKD or kidney transplants. The primary outcome was the development of incident bleeding analyzed by multivariate time-dependent Cox models. Results: In 1001 patients, bleeding occurred in 48% of AKI and 57% of non-AKI patients (p = .007). To identify predictors of incident bleeding, we excluded patients who bled before ICU (n = 488). In bleeding-free patients (n = 513), we observed a trend toward higher risks of bleeding in AKI (22% vs. 16%, p = .06), and a higher risk of bleeding in AKI-requiring dialysis (38% vs. 17%, p = .01). Cirrhosis, AKI-requiring dialysis, anticoagulation, and coronary artery disease were associated with bleeding (HR 3.67, 95%CI:1.33-10.25; HR 2.82, 95%CI:126-6.32: HR 2.34, 95%CI:1.45-3.80; and HR 1.84, 95%CI:1.06-3.20, respectively), while SOFA score and sepsis had a protective association (HR 0.92 95%CI:0.84-0.99 and HR 0.55, 95%CI:0.34-0.91, respectively). Incident bleeding was not associated with mortality. Conclusions: AKI-requiring dialysis was associated with incident bleeding, independent of anticoagulant administration. Studies are needed to better understand how AKI affects coagulation and clinical outcomes. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.