Fellowship to strengthen AKI patient management in Malawi
ISN Fellows are ready to start two months of training, together with Dan Adlington, first participant in the ISN Reverse Fellowship Program.
Their first day together started with training and lectures on Tenckhoff insertion techniques. Dan Adlington will join the team at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre in Malawi in two weeks.
He will help the team develop an implementation program to teach about detecting, managing and treating acute kidney injury (AKI), following the format of the 0by25 pilot feasibility study, conducted a few years ago.
This ISN Fellowship Program was made possible through Saving Young Lives with joint support from the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD).
Dr Adlington’s working visit to Blantyre was made possible through the reverse fellowship, which gives young nephrologists from well-resourced settings the chance to mentor and train clinical staff at a center in a low- or middle-income country for up to 12 months.
He says: ‘I hope to positively influence the growth of the renal department through clinical work, contributing to the education of local healthcare workers and through the involvement in the ISN’s Kidney Care Network project that aims to improve the detection and management of AKI in low- and-middle income countries.’
Kidney Care Network project at the Blantyre site aims to improve the detection and management of AKI through education of local healthcare workers in combination with the introduction of point of care test kits for creatinine. Dr Adlington will be in helping to get this project off the ground.
A recent study performed at Queen’s hospital demonstrated a large burden of renal disease. 17.2% of patients admitted had AKI of which the majority was severe in nature. The most common causes for AKI were infections and toxins, which suggested that there may be reversibility in a large number of these cases.
The renal service in Blantyre is well established already. The unit has a 10 bed ward for nephrology inpatients and a five-station hemodialysis unit. Dr Adlington’s work will involve utilising the systems that are already in place as well as drawing on additional resources that would be required for the ISN’s project looking at the improved detection and management of AKI.
All the best to everybody involved, we look forward to hearing more news!
