Biomarkers play important roles in clinical practices including diagnosis and treatment selection. With regard to acute kidney injury (AKI), the use of biomarkers to guide clinical trials is very promising. The committee of the 19th Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) conference met in April 2017 and discussed the integration of biomarkers within clinical trials of acute kidney injury. Consensus had been reached for the significant benefits of integration of biomarkers in clinical trials as well as some potential limitations. Authors concluded the potential role of biomarkers from risk stratification to identification of AKI as well as to monitor therapeutic effects. The group also concluded that biomarkers included within clinical trails could provide both sensitivity and specificity to facilitate trial design. Then the group discussed the role of biomarkers within the PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome) framework, including the use of biomarkers in patient selection, intervention guidance, comparator and end-point decision. Finally, the committee concluded both the benefits and potential drawbacks of implementing biomarkers in clinical trials of acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in approximately 20% of hospitalized patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The care of hospitalized patients with AKI has been shown to be variable in clinical practices. Systematic tools including checklists, care bundles and medical algorithms have been developed and implemented to improve the care and outcomes of AKI patients. However, whether these systematic tools can improve the quality of care and outcomes of AKI patients is still unknown. The committee of the 19th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) conference dedicated a workgroup with the task of developing a study protocol to investigate this question. A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed and Embase. Key questions and feasibility of potential study proposals were discussed during the conference. Then a two-step Delphi process was used to reach consensus regarding several aspects of the study protocol. The group suggested that patient risk assessment be included in the study protocol and the choice of systematic tool be depending on different clinical contexts. The group also proposed a two-phase study with the use of oliguria and systematic tool to investigate the quality of care and outcomes of AKI patients. Consensus was reached on a study protocol regarding the efficacy of using systematic tools to improve clinical management and outcomes of AKI patients.

How fluid resuscitation clinical trials should be conducted for either prevention or treatment of acute kidney injury among patients admitted to the intensive care unit is unclear. In 2017, a group of experts in fluid resuscitation and acute kidney injury met at the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) XIX consensus conference on “Pragmatic Studies for AKI”, Wuhan, China and developed a research framework. In this report, we summarize the consensus recommendations on the topic of fluid resuscitation in the peri-AKI period based on existing clinical evidence. We also discuss the gaps in our knowledge and identify future research questions. Finally, we examine the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic fluid resuscitation trial to improve outcomes from acute kidney injury.

In this article, we report consensus of 19th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) conference and pragmatic trial proposals on renal replacement therapy (RRT) for acute kidney injury (AKI)and sepsis. The committee develop a list of key questions for the pragmatic trials. Then a systematic literature search was performed using PubMed and Embase. Finally the group summarized the proposed trials using PICO(Patient, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome). The groups recommended the first step would be a prospective observational study to document the current clinical practice of RRT in ICUs. Then the second stage would be to develop a quality improvement (QI) tools to improve and standardize the RRT practice in ICUs. The committee also proposed the primary outcome and secondary outcomes of the trial. Consensus had been reached for the pragmatic trial of RRT for AKI and sepsis in Chinese ICUs.