Preoperative Factors Predicting Admission to the Intensive Care Unit After Kidney Transplantation

To identify preoperative factors predicting early admission (within 30 days) of adult kidney transplant recipients to the intensive care unit (ICU).

This is a single-center retrospective study of consecutive kidney transplant recipients between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2016. Children (aged <18 years) and patients who underwent simultaneous multiorgan transplantation were excluded from the analysis. Associations between demographic, transplant-related, and comorbidity variables with ICU admission within 30 days of transplantation were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models.

Of the 1527 eligible patients, 305 (20%) required early ICU admission. In univariate analysis, older age, higher body mass index (BMI), previous transplantation, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, longer ischemia time, pretransplant dialysis, and transplantation from a deceased donor were associated with increased odds of ICU admission. After multivariate adjustment, every 10-year increase in recipient age (odds ratio [OR], 1.26; 95% CI, 1.12-1.42; P<.001), 5-unit increase in BMI (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.00-1.22; P=.049), pretransplant dialysis (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.19-2.08; P=.002), and deceased donor transplantation (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.29-2.55; P<.001) were associated with the increased risk of ICU admission. Preemptive transplantation (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.48-0.84; P=.002) and living donor kidney transplantation (OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.39-0.77; P<.001) were associated with lower odds of ICU admission after transplantation.

Recipient age, BMI, and the need for pretransplant dialysis are associated with a higher risk of early ICU admission after kidney transplantation, whereas living donor kidney transplantation and preemptive transplantation decrease these odds. Early referral of patients with end-stage renal disease for preemptive transplantation and living donor kidney transplantation can significantly reduce transplant-related ICU admissions.