Delayed graft function in living donor kidney transplantation: A single-center experience

Abstract

Aim: The aim was to study the incidence of delayed graft function (DGF) in living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT), its risk factors, and its impact on graft and patient survivals. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 543 patients over 12 years of age who had received kidney transplant from a living donor between 2007 and 2018. The demographic characteristics of the patients, acute rejection rates, graft function at 1 year, graft survival, and patient survival were compared between patients with and without DGF. Results: The incidence of DGF was 10.1% in our study. Cold ischemia time (CIT) (76.61 ± 33.66 vs. 53.02 ± 17.55 min; P < 0.01) and the use of tacrolimus (6.3% vs. 4.2%; P < 0.01) were associated with greater incidence of DGF. Patients with DGF had a longer duration of hospital stay (23.03 ± 11.37 vs. 13.98 ± 5.81 days; P < 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in acute rejection rates, death-censored graft survival, and patient survival in the two cohorts. Conclusions: Our study reiterates that CIT is an important predictive factor for DGF. This is pertinent because CIT is a modifiable risk factor. However, DGF did not have a significant impact on patient and graft survivals in LDKT recipients.

Keywords

• cold ischemia time
• delayed graft function
• living donor kidney transplantation