Athanasios Saratzis (Leicester, UK) speaks to Vascular News about his lecture at VSASM 2020 (Vascular Societies’ Annual Scientific Meeting; 24–27 November, Virtual) on renal injury in major endovascular surgery, arguing that acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic renal decline are common and complex problems. High quality complex trials are required to assess potential treatments in order to lower the impact to the healthcare system and to the patient.
Saratzis, who maintains “there have been a number of issues with” AKI in the early years of endovascular interventions, points out that physicians now have the right tools to define and diagnose AKI early, as well as predict who might develop it. He is “convinced” that due to the complex pathophysiology of AKI, complex interventions are needed in order to prevent AKI, which is not “an easy task”.