Application of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Patients Undergoing Kidney Transplant: the Belfast Protocol

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the Belfast Protocol for enhanced recovery after surgery on hospital length of stay (LOS) after kidney transplant.

A prospectively collected database was analyzed for all consecutive renal transplant recipients in 2010 and compared with consecutive renal transplant recipients in 2018 before and immediately after the full implementation of the Belfast Protocol.

There were 73 renal transplants in 2010 and 115 in 2018. Between 2010 and 2018 there was a significant decrease in LOS from 12 to 7 days (P < .0001). Compared with 2010, in 2018 there was a significant increase in donor age (47 vs 54 years, P < .0001) and kidney transplant from donation after circulatory death donors (0% vs 9%, P < .0001). Although there was no change in the proportion of living donors (59% vs 50%, P = .32), in 2018 there were more blood group incompatible living donors (0% vs 7%, P = .21). Compared with 2010, in 2018 there was a significant increase in recipient age (43 vs 54 years, P = .0002), diabetic nephropathy (5% vs 16%, P = .03), and recipient body mass index >35 kg/m2 (0% vs 9%, P = .02).

Implementation of the Belfast Protocol has decreased LOS in renal transplant recipients despite increasingly complex donor and recipient profiles.