Instructions

• 1). See a doctor. You need an accurate diagnosis of acute renal failure and its cause. Causes can include extremely low blood pressure, poor heart function, kidney inflammation, low blood volume, reduced blood supply in your kidneys, toxic injury from alcohol, drugs or heavy metals, and bladder or ureter obstruction.
  
  
• 2). Treat the cause. Before acute renal failure can be repaired you must treat the condition causing it. Treatment will attempt to restore kidney function, stop fluid and waste build up and give the kidneys time to heal. Your liquid intake will be limited to how much urine you produce and your diet will be adjusted to reduce toxins handled by kidneys. This may mean more carbohydrates and less salt, protein, and potassium. Diuretics will be used to help kidneys get rid of fluid and antibiotics will be given to treat or prevent infection. You may be prescribed calcium, glucose or sodium polystyrene sulfonate which will help prevent potassium from building up in your blood or pull it out of your body by binding it to the intestines. Too much potassium in the blood can cause you to develop heart arrhythmias.
  
  
• 3). Consider dialysis. If your potassium levels are dangerously high your doctor may recommend you go on dialysis which is a mechanical way to filter waste in your blood. This is also an option for patients who stop urinating, retain too much fluid, can't get nitrogen waste out of the body, and develop pericarditis which is inflammation around the heart. Dialysis is not always necessary, but it is a life saving procedure for those in need.