Evidence-based guidelines for the nutritional management of adult kidney transplant recipients

The present article summarizes the key recommendations of the evidence-based guidelines developed for the nutritional management of adult kidney transplant recipients.

Nutrition interventions play an important role in preventing and managing common health problems associated with renal transplantation such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Two sets of guidelines were developed by a working group of renal dietitians and nephrologists. They were subject to expert panel review, and public consultation by renal clinicians and consumers before final endorsement by 2 authorities in Australia--Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment (CARI) and Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA). Protocol and rigor of guideline development were previously described and published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, 2009.

These guidelines address 13 priority topics identified by the renal community and complement each other with different emphasis, from research translation to day to day clinical practice recommendations. The published guidelines are available to the public through web-access of CARI and DAA, and journal publications. Information includes the guidelines themselves with level of evidence stated, grading of recommendations, suggestions for clinical care, search strategy, background and summary of evidence, recommendations of other guidelines, practice recommendations, appendices of useful tools, and suggestions for audits and future research.

Two sets of comprehensive evidence-based nutrition guidelines from CARI and DAA are now available to help improve health outcomes of adult kidney transplant recipients.