Reading between the (guide)lines-the KDIGO practice guideline on acute kidney injury in the individual patient

The KDIGO guidelines for acute kidney injury (AKI) are designed to assist health-care providers around the world in managing patients with AKI. Clinical guidelines are intended to help the clinician make an informed decision based on review of the currently available evidence. Due to the generic nature of guidelines, it is sometimes difficult to translate a guideline for a particular individual patient who may have specific clinical circumstances. To illustrate this point, we have discussed the interpretation of the KDIGO guideline in patients who have subtleties in their clinical presentation, which may make treatment decisions less than straightforward.