Assessment of Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin to Predict AKI in the NICU

Nephrotoxic medication (NTMx) exposure is one of the most commonly cited causes of acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized children, and is the primary cause of AKI in 16% of cases. Through initial work at UAB/Children's of Alabama Hospital, NTMx exposure was found to be potentially modifiable and the associated AKI is an avoidable adverse safety event. Currently, only serum Creatinine monitoring is available to monitor for NTMx-associated AKI. The hypothesis of this NINJA NGAL study is that urine NGAL is highly sensitive to detect NTMx-associated AKI. UAB/Children's of Alabama is bringing urine NGAL measurement to the infants in the NICU to detect NTMX-associated AKI.