Risk factors for urinary tract infections during the first year after kidney transplantation

Urinary tract infections (UTI) have been reported to occur with frequencies ranging from 30% to 60% in kidney transplant recipients during the first year posttransplantation. UTI is the main cause of infectious complications in this period. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of UTI, during the first year posttransplantation and to identify the risk factors associated with its development, as well as its impact on graft function.

This retrospective cohort study had as a primary outcome the development of UTI, defined as the presence of more than 100,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of a pathogenic organism by mL of urine. The univariate analysis was performed with chi-square test for categorical variables and Student t test for continuous ones metrics. We performed multivariate analysis with logistic regression. P < .05 was considered statistically significant.

We studied 176 kidney transplant recipients, including 54.5% of male gender and with an overall average age of 37 +/- 12 years. The UTI incidence was of 35.8% (n = 63). The bacterium most frequently found in urine cultures was Escherichia coli (n = 46). In this study, the risk factors that were independently associated with UTI development were age, female gender, days of bladder catheterization, genitourinary anatomic alterations, and UTI during 1 month prior to kidney transplantation.

This type of study makes it possible to identify risk factors and to formulate strategies focused on particular risk factors.