Acute kidney injury according to pediatric RIFLE criteria is associated with negative outcomes after heart surgery in children.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) according to pediatric RIFLE (pRIFLE) criteria and adverse outcomes in children after heart surgery.

Methods: Children undergoing heart surgery in a tertiary hospital in Southern Brazil were followed during their stay in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) or until death. The exposure variable was occurrence of AKI according to pRIFLE criteria which place AKI in three categories: R (risk), I (injury), and F (failure).