#203 POCUS for AKI & Dialysis | Real Cases That Changed Management

#203 POCUS for AKI & Dialysis | Real Cases That Changed Management

From Core IM | Internal Medicine Podcast by Core IM Team

March 23, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

This episode discusses real cases involving POCUS in the management of AKI and dialysis patients.

A dialysis patient with a chronic cough: is it COPD, or are they still volume overloaded? A patient with AKI and hyperkalemia says they’re still peeing — does that rule out post-obstructive AKI? A patient arrives in the ED with uremic symptoms and a newly created AV fistula. Can you safely use it, or do you need to place a temporary dialysis catheter? And the classic inpatient dilemma: your heart failure patient looks better after diuresis, but the creatinine is rising. Is it time to stop, or should you keep going? 🔹 Sponsor: Pain Management and Opioids Adaptive Learning Free Online Course by NEJM Group: https://cme-info.nejm.org/core-im/ See here for Neph Madness details See here for the POCUS region of NephMaddness VOTE here to build your bracket! 🔹 Transcript and Shownotes : 00:52 | What is NephMadness? 02:19 | Detecting post-renal obstruction in a patient who reported normal urination 11:26 | POCUS for discharge or continue diurese 17:25 | Distinguishing COPD from volume overload in a dialysis patient using lung ultrasound 23:55 | Assessing AV fistula maturity at the bedside to potentially avoid placing a temporary dialysis line Along the way, we discuss practical ways…

Topics covered

  • POCUS
  • AKI
  • Dialysis
  • Volume overload
  • Hyperkalemia
  • Uremic symptoms
  • Heart failure

Keywords

  • chronic cough
  • COPD
  • post-obstructive AKI
  • AV fistula
  • temporary dialysis catheter
  • diuresis
  • creatinine

Sponsors

NEJM Group

Mentioned in this episode

Places: POCUS

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