Concomitant treatment with urodilatin (ularitide) does not improve renal function in patients with acute renal failure after major abdominal surgery--a randomized controlled trial.

Acute renal failure after major abdominal surgery is a severe complication in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU). The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of urodilatin on the peak value and course of serum creatinine in patients with acute renal insufficiency after major abdominal surgery and the necessity of apparatus-based renal replacement treatment. Furthermore, the incidence and nature of adverse events under urodilatin was documented. In a prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, 12 critically ill patients after major abdominal surgery with acute renal failure in an intensive care unit (ICU) received 20 ng/kg b.w./min urodilatin (ularitide, INN) or placebo in addition to the standard diuretic therapy or low-dose dopamine (2.5 micrograms/kg b.w./min) and furosemide (1000 mg/24 hr) for a minimum of 96 hours. All patients received mechanical ventilation. Both groups had similar serum creatinine values on the day before the onset of urodilatin/placebo infusion (2.80 +/- 0.24 mg/dl, 2.93 +/- 0.48 mg/dl). Peak serum creatinine was lower in the urodilatin group (4.65 +/- 0.57 mg/dl) compared to vehicle treatment (5.78 +/- 1.58 mg/dl), although the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.148). The total number of hemodialyses due to oligo-/anuria and/or hyperkalemia was the same in both groups during the study. In 4 patients of the placebo group, diuresis was reduced to anuria, whereas only 1 of the patients treated with urodilatin became anuric. No hemodynamic side effects or adverse events due to urodilatin were observed. This clinical study under double blind conditions revealed that the addition of urodilatin to the standard diuretic therapy of low-dose dopamine and furosemide failed to improve renal function in patients with established acute renal failure and that urodilatin did not eliminate the need for apparatus-based renal replacement treatment.