Difference Between Renal Failure & Prerenal Failure

Damage to your kidneys can happen over days or years. Kidney failure occurs from injury or medical conditions. Prerenal failure can be reversed. Renal failure can be slowed, but not reversed.

Significance

• When your kidneys are healthy, they perform important functions. For example, they remove wastes and excess fluid from your blood. However, when your kidneys do not properly function, the same waste products can build up in your body and cause further damage.

Difference

• With prerenal acute renal failure (ARF), your body doesn’t properly circulate blood to your kidneys. As a result, your kidneys aren’t able to efficiently clean your blood of waste products. However, with renal failure, your kidneys stop functioning properly.

Causes

• Causes of renal failure are underlying conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Causes of prerenal ARF are severe blood loss, sepsis, dehydration or heart failure, according to Nephrology Channel.

Considerations

• An individual suffering from prerenal ARF will need to undergo treatment for the underlying condition (for example, liver failure or an infection) causing the ARF. In addition, intravenous (IV) fluids will need to be administered if the person is dehydrated.

Treatment

• According to Nephrology Channel, prerenal ARF can dramatically improve. In contrast, renal failure must be continually controlled through medication and/or dialysis.