Background: Severe Acute Kidney Injury that necessitates renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT) is a frequent complication of critical illness and portends severe outcomes: high morbidity, an approximately 50% risk of in-hospital death, and increased healthcare resource utilization. Although life-saving when needed, RRT itself may contribute to the poor outcomes associated with AKI-RRT. Since RRT treatments frequently cause hypotension, repeated episodes of kidney and other organ ischemia may occur during RRT. Hypotension during RRT is often triggered by fluid removal. At the same time, there is some evidence that more aggressive ultrafiltration could be beneficial in AKI-RRT.~Albumin is a protein that is the primary contributor to the colloid oncotic pressure maintaining the effective circulating volume (ECV) during RRT. Critically ill patients with AKI-RRT are nearly always hypoalbuminemic. Despite its high cost and limited evidence to support the practice, intravenous hyperoncotic albumin is commonly administered to patients with AKI-RRT in an effort to boost the colloid oncotic pressure and maintain the blood pressure while simultaneously facilitating fluid removal~Objective:~This proposed trial is intended to provide definitive evidence as to the efficacy of a frequently used and expensive intervention to promote hemodynamic stability and augment ultrafiltration during RRT in critically ill patients~Design: A randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms. Setting: The mixed medical-surgical intensive care units of five Canadian tertiary care hospitals with plans to expand to include other centres across Canada and internationally.~Study Population: 1,096 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with AKI requiring treatment with RRT .~Intervention: Participants will be randomized 1:1 to receive either albumin (20-25%) boluses or normal saline placebo boluses at the start and halfway through RRT sessions in ICU, during their RRT treatments to a maximum of 14 days.
Study objectives:~To determine whether, in critically ill patients with Acute Kidney Injury requiring renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT), randomization to receive intravenous hyperoncotic albumin 20-25% (100 mL X two doses) compared to control/placebo normal saline boluses (100 mL X two doses) given during RRT sessions, leads to:~An increase in organ support-free days (primary outcome) at 28 days following initiation of RRT; and~An increase in RRT-free days (principal secondary outcome) at 28 days following initiation of RRT.