Growth Failure in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease

Growth failure is a common problem in children with CKD. Multiple etiologies are responsible for CKD, of which congenital abnormalities are common, remainder being hereditary conditions, glomerulopathies and multisystem disease. Assessment of growth parameters is essential to identify the extent of impairment in growth of CKD children. KDOQI Guidelines recommended for frequent assessment of growth parameters for chronic kidney disease children in stage 2 to stage 5 and also for those with comorbidities. Identification of growth retardation at the earliest is needed to avoid its untoward consequences like low self esteem, frequent hospitalization and mortality. Even with optimal care, many of these children develop ESRD and require renal replacement therapy. Thus management of CKD children prior to renal replacement therapy is mostly conservative with the aim to slow the progression of disease, optimize renal function , minimizes co -morbidities of CKD and improves their quality of life.