The causes of acute kidney injury can be divided into three categories (Table 29): prerenal (caused by decreased renal perfusion, often because of volume depletion), intrinsic renal (caused by a process within the kidneys), and postrenal (caused by inadequate drainage of urine distal to the kidneys). In patients who already have underlying chronic kidney disease, any of these factors, but especially volume depletion, may cause acute kidney injury in addition to the chronic impairment of renal function.