Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious and common complication of cardiac surgery. Intravenous amino acids increase kidney perfusion and recruit renal functional reserve. However, the efficacy of amino acids in reducing the occurrence of AKI after cardiac surgery is uncertain. In a multinational, double-blind trial, the authors randomly assigned adult patients who were scheduled to undergo cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass to receive an intravenous infusion of either a balanced mixture of amino acids or placebo for up to 3 days.

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