Impact of acute kidney injury on the risk of mortality in patients with cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To compare the risk of mortality in patients with cirrhosis with and without the associated acute kidney injury (AKI).

We performed a systematic search in the PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases for observational studies that were done on patients with cirrhosis. Eligible studies reported AKI in patients with cirrhosis and compared mortality among patients with and without AKI. We used a random-effects model, using STATA version 16.0, for deriving pooled effect sizes that were reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Thirty-two studies were included. In patients with cirrhosis, AKI was significantly associated with higher in-hospital mortality (OR 5.92), and mortality at 30 days (OR 4.78), 90 days (OR 4.34), and at 1 year follow-up (OR 4.82) compared to patients without AKI.

AKI is associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with cirrhosis. Careful monitoring to identify the development of AKI and early prompt management is necessary.