The primary care professional is essential to early detection and ongoing management of chronic kidney disease and primary interventions can help delay the need for referral to a nephrologist.
There are several professional society guidelines available to guide care, although the recommendations may conflict at times, according to the National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP).
The NKDEP created a concise guide specifically for the busy primary care professional that highlights the most important considerations for diagnosing and slowing the progression of CKD. The slides that follow offer a look at the 2 key laboratory studies used to detect CKD as presented by the NKDEP, and in brief.