Defining acute renal failure.

© 2011 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors CMAJ, July 12, 2011, 183(10) 1167 The initial management of episodes of acute renal failure is often done by clinicians who are not specialists in nephrology. Their efforts may be hampered by several factors, such as deficiencies in our understanding of acute renal failure, and consensus and anecdote forming the basis of much of our practice rather than highquality evidence. This situation has been partly engendered by the lack of a uniform definition of acute renal failure. The aims of this article are to highlight recent attempts to develop a standard definition for diagnosing and classifying acute renal failure and to explain how these attempts may help clinicians in everyday practice.