Acute kidney failure

Diseases and Conditions

Overview Symptoms Causes Risk factors Complications Prevention Diagnosis Treatment Lifestyle and home remedies Preparing for an appointment

Acute kidney failure can occur when:

You have a condition that slows blood flow to your kidneys
You experience direct damage to your kidneys
Your kidneys' urine drainage tubes (ureters) become blocked and wastes can't leave your body through your urine

Diseases and conditions that may slow blood flow to the kidneys and lead to kidney injury include:

Blood or fluid loss
Blood pressure medications
Heart attack
Heart disease
Infection
Liver failure
Use of aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve, others) or related drugs
Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
Severe burns
Severe dehydration

These diseases, conditions and agents may damage the kidneys and lead to acute kidney failure:

Blood clots in the veins and arteries in and around the kidneys
Cholesterol deposits that block blood flow in the kidneys
Glomerulonephritis (gloe-mer-u-loe-nuh-FRY-tis), inflammation of the tiny filters in the kidneys (glomeruli)
Hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that results from premature destruction of red blood cells
Infection, such as with the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Lupus, an immune system disorder causing glomerulonephritis
Medications, such as certain chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics and dyes used during imaging tests
Scleroderma, a group of rare diseases affecting the skin and connective tissues
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare blood disorder
Toxins, such as alcohol, heavy metals and cocaine
Muscle tissue breakdown (rhabdomyolysis) that leads to kidney damage caused by toxins from muscle tissue destruction
Breakdown of tumor cells (tumor lysis syndrome), which leads to the release of toxins that can cause kidney injury

Diseases and conditions that block the passage of urine out of the body (urinary obstructions) and can lead to acute kidney injury include: