Graft infection in kidney recipients and its relation to transplanted kidney function

Following kidney transplantation, septic complications are the leading causes of therapeutic failure including recipient death or graft removal. The serum creatinine level is one of the earliest metrics of kidney metabolic function. We examined the influence of graft infection on serum creatinine levels in kidney recipients.

We analyzed the function of 220 kidneys transplanted in nine centers in Poland. The kidneys were recovered from 146 multiorgan donors. Donor urea and creatinine levels were within the normal range. We investigated the influence of perioperative graft infection incidence on recipient creatinine levels at 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 30, 90, and 180 days after kidney transplantation. The association of the serum creatinine level with categorical variables was assessed using either Student t test analysis of variance and multivariate techniques. In all analyses P<.05 indicated statistical significance.

There were 25 graft infections revealing a significant relationship with increased recipient serum creatinine level after kidney transplantation (P=.003). Multivariate analysis confirmed the impact of infection.

Perioperative kidney graft infection influenced graft funtion in the early and late periods post-transplantation.