Describing patterns in serum creatinine in infants with and without necrotizing enterocolitis

Objective To evaluate serum creatinine (SCr) patterns and the development of acute kidney injury (AKI), as potential biomarkers of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Study design Retrospective chart review of preterm infants with and without NEC born 23–32 weeks gestation admitted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital NICU. Medical versus surgical NEC was determined by radiographic and clinical findings. Available inpatient SCr levels obtained on days 8 through 365 were included. Result In this cohort, 77 NEC and a randomly selected group of 82 non-NEC infants met inclusion criteria. Fifteen of the 70 (21.4%) with NEC met criteria for AKI versus 0 of 43 (0.0%) without NEC. One of the 13 with AKI had AKI within 7 days prior to NEC diagnosis (7.7%). Conclusion AKI is more prevalent in infants with NEC. The temporal association between AKI and NEC could not be evaluated due to inconsistent SCr surveillance and should be evaluated in future studies.