Nephrology

“The launch of our Acute Care Nephrology program is a testament of what’s possible when passion meets purpose. The implementation of this program represents a major step forward in delivering high-quality, lifesaving care to our most critically ill children. In fact, we’ve done the most kidney transplants in our program’s history in 2024. This is a result of remarkable team effort, collaboration and unwavering focus on giving every critically ill child the most effective renal support.”

Jyothsna Gattineni, M.D.
Pediatric Nephrologist and Division Director of Nephrology, Children's Health
Associate Professor, UT Southwestern

PATIENT OUTCOMES

0% Biopsy complication and biopsy re-admission rate within seven days
<2% National benchmark

100% Survival rate for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing dialysis and patients with Kt/V values ≥ 1.2
>90% National benchmark

89 patients received CRRT treatment in 2025

0.22 annual peritonitis rate for dialysis patients in 2025.
<0.40 National Benchmark

KEY PROGRAMS

Acute Care Nephrology Services

Our division has made significant strides in advancing pediatric continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) through innovation, education, data-driven improvement and national collaboration. By integrating new technologies, standardizing care practices, expanding staff training and contributing to the broader nephrology community, we can deliver safer and more effective therapies to critically ill children.

Offers the Carpediem dialysis system to our NICU, a machine specifically designed for neonates
Implements circuit-to-circuit blood priming, a technique that transfers blood from an expiring CRRT circuit to a new one
Standardizes CRRT educational resources with the flexibility to tailor content by role
Provides 24/7 on-call coverage for CRRT-related issues

Pediatric Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

Our expert acute care nephrology team is highly skilled at CRRT, a procedure that performs the function of the kidneys, giving them time to rest. It’s similar to dialysis, but it’s performed over a longer period of time. CRRT is used for critically ill patients because they may not tolerate traditional dialysis well due to significant drops in blood pressure.