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ICU TopicsRenal/Metabolic

ICU · Renal/Metabolic

Drug-induced kidney injury and acute interstitial nephritis

Also known as Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) · Drug-induced nephrotoxicity · Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) · Contrast nephropathy · Contrast-associated AKI (CA-AKI)

Drug-induced AKI: vanco plus pip-tazo risk, AUC-guided vancomycin, once-daily aminoglycosides, amphotericin formulations, triple therapy, contrast (PRESERVE, ACR/NKF, TRACK-D), AIN biopsy and steroids, and post-AKI CKD risk.

medium16 referencesUpdated 13 Oct 20266 min readSource-verified · Oct 2026

Checked against its sources on 13 Oct 2026

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CICMFFICMEDIC

Red flags

  • AIN: STOP the offending drug immediately — the most important intervention
  • Aminoglycosides: monitor levels — high trough levels cause ATN and ototoxicity
  • Contrast nephropathy: pre-hydrate with IV saline for at-risk patients (NAC no benefit — PRESERVE)
  • Tenofovir: causes Fanconi syndrome (proximal tubular dysfunction) — check phosphate, glucose
  • Triple whammy (NSAID + ACEi + diuretic) — review medication list in EVERY AKI
  • Aciclovir at high IV doses precipitates crystals in distal tubules — hydrate and slow the infusion
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Practise this topic8 MCQs with explanations

Target exams

CICMFFICMEDIC

Red flags

  • AIN: STOP the offending drug immediately — the most important intervention
  • Aminoglycosides: monitor levels — high trough levels cause ATN and ototoxicity
  • Contrast nephropathy: pre-hydrate with IV saline for at-risk patients (NAC no benefit — PRESERVE)
  • Tenofovir: causes Fanconi syndrome (proximal tubular dysfunction) — check phosphate, glucose
  • Triple whammy (NSAID + ACEi + diuretic) — review medication list in EVERY AKI
  • Aciclovir at high IV doses precipitates crystals in distal tubules — hydrate and slow the infusion

An older ICU patient on vancomycin plus piperacillin-tazobactam develops AKI on day 3. That combination carries significantly higher AKI risk than vancomycin plus cefepime (OR 2.55) or meropenem (OR 2.26) in network meta-analysis — the drug review, not the contrast, comes first.[8]

What the sources support
  1. Vanco + pip-tazo beats other vanco combos for AKI risk — OR 2.55 vs cefepime, 2.26 vs meropenem.[8]
  2. PRESERVE: bicarbonate equals saline and NAC equals placebo for the 90-day composite.[2]
  3. Biopsy is the AIN gold standard; withdraw the drug, add steroids if no recovery in 5-7 days.[1]
  4. Once-daily aminoglycosides cut nephrotoxicity risk (RR 0.74) with non-inferior efficacy.[10]
  5. Triple therapy (diuretic + ACEi/ARB + NSAID) raises AKI risk.[12]

The triple whammy and haemodynamic injury

Triple therapy (diuretic plus ACEi/ARB plus NSAID) raised AKI risk (rate ratio 1.31, highest in the first 30 days at 1.82); double therapy with NSAIDs was not associated with increased AKI.[12] Drugs remain a relatively common cause of acute and chronic kidney injury through patient, kidney and drug factors.[3]

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References16ShowHide
  1. [1]Sanchez-Alamo B, Cases-Corona C, Fernandez-Juarez G Facing the Challenge of Drug-Induced Acute Interstitial Nephritis. Nephron, 2023.PMID 35830831
  2. [2]Weisbord SD, Gallagher M, Jneid H, et al. Outcomes after Angiography with Sodium Bicarbonate and Acetylcysteine. The New England journal of medicine, 2018.PMID 29130810
  3. [3]Perazella MA Pharmacology behind Common Drug Nephrotoxicities. Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN, 2018.PMID 29622670
  4. [4]Perazella MA Renal vulnerability to drug toxicity. Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN, 2009.PMID 19520747
  5. [5]Davenport MS, Perazella MA, Yee J, et al. Use of Intravenous Iodinated Contrast Media in Patients with Kidney Disease: Consensus Statements from the American College of Radiology and the National Kidney Foundation. Radiology, 2020.PMID 31961246
  6. [6]Han Y, Zhu G, Han L, et al. Short-term rosuvastatin therapy for prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2014.PMID 24076297
  7. [7]Praga M, González E Acute interstitial nephritis. Kidney international, 2010.PMID 20336051
  8. [8]Pan K, Li R, Li Y, et al. Vancomycin combined with piperacillin/tazobactam increases the risk of acute kidney injury compared with vancomycin plus other anti-pseudomonal beta-lactams: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2025.PMID 39533846
  9. [9]Rybak MJ, Le J, Lodise TP, et al. Executive Summary: Therapeutic Monitoring of Vancomycin for Serious Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections: A Revised Consensus Guideline and Review of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. Pharmacotherapy, 2020.PMID 32227354
  10. [10]Barza M, Ioannidis JP, Cappelleri JC, et al. Single or multiple daily doses of aminoglycosides: a meta-analysis. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1996.PMID 8611830
  11. [11]Coca SG, Singanamala S, Parikh CR Chronic kidney disease after acute kidney injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Kidney international, 2012.PMID 22113526
  12. [12]Lapi F, Azoulay L, Yin H, et al. Concurrent use of diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of acute kidney injury: nested case-control study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2013.PMID 23299844
  13. [13]Hamill RJ Amphotericin B formulations: a comparative review of efficacy and toxicity. Drugs, 2013.PMID 23729001
  14. [14]Kim JY, Yee J, Yoon HY, et al. Risk factors for vancomycin-associated acute kidney injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2022.PMID 35665530
  15. [15]Somkereki C, Palfi R, Scridon A Prevention of contrast-associated acute kidney injury in an era of increasingly complex interventional procedures. Frontiers in medicine, 2023.PMID 38264052
  16. [16]Appel GB Aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity. The American journal of medicine, 1990.PMID 2180292

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