Clinical and pathological aspects of analgesic nephropathy

1 Analgesic nephropathy is part of the analgesic syndrome which has gastrointestinal, haematological, cardiovascular, psychological and psychiatric, and pregnancy and gonadal manifestations; premature ageing may also be a feature. 2 Analgesic nephropathy is a form of renal disease characterized by renal papillary necrosis, secondary chronic interstitial nephritis and renal failure with features of predominant tubulointerstitial dysfunction. 3 The percentage of patients with analgesic nephropathy who present with terminal renal failure is 12%. With appropriate management, 17% of analgesic nephropathy patients improve, 50% remain stable and 23% deteriorate. The 6 year cumulative survival is 70%. The major factors influencing deterioration are malignant hypertension, persistent proteinuria and small initial renal size. 4 The risk of renal papillary carcinoma in patients who regularly take analgesics is 8 per 100,000 patients per year. 5 Renal papillary necrosis is a consequence of the chronic toxicity of all non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs and results from medullary ischaemia secondary to suppression of prostaglandin E2 synthesis and from direct cellular toxicity. 6 Analgesic nephropathy is a preventable form of renal disease and renal failure. It can be prevented by limiting the abuse potential of analgesics rather than by making minor modifications in the composition of analgesic mixtures.