[Strategic plan for reduction of hospital stay in renal transplantation]

Since January 2015 we have carried out a multiple-intervention strategic plan to reduce hospital stay in renal transplant recipients. The main objective of this study is to compare results of renal transplantation before and after putting into effect this plan in terms of graft and patient survival, readmissions and incidence of acute rejection during the first year post transplantation. In this retrospective analysis we included all patients 18 years of age or older who were transplanted at our institution. The strategic plan resulted in a significant reduction of hospital stay of renal recipients from 13.5 days in the pre-plan group (n=97) to 4.6 days in the post-plan group (n=62; p≤0.0001). The incidence of acute rejection during the first year was similar (pre-plan group=14.4% vs. post-plan group=16% [p=0.77]) as it was graft survival (88% vs. 90% [p=0.71]) and patient survival (95% vs. 98% [p=0.37]), respectively. The multiple-intervention strategic plan has significantly reduced the hospital stay of patients after renal transplantation without affecting graft or patient survival, which are comparable to those internationally published, and without jeopardizing patient's safety.