Postoperative 20% Albumin Infusion and Acute Kidney Injury in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients: The ALBICS AKI Randomized Clinical Trial

The primary analysis included 307 patients randomized to the 20% albumin group and 304 to usual care. The mean (SD) age was 69 (10.8) years, and 281 patients (45.8%) had an eGFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. The median (IQR) European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation score-II was 3.23 (1.91-5.30). In this study of cardiac surgery patients at high risk of AKI, an infusion of 20% albumin increased the risk of AKI. These findings do not support the routine use of hyperoncotic albumin infusion in patients undergoing high-risk cardiac surgery.