Nationwide survey of infection prevention protocols in solid organ transplantation in South Korea

Infections are a major cause of morbidity, graft failure, and mortality in solid organ transplant recipients. Preventive measures have greatly reduced the burden of posttransplant infections. However, little is known about the practice patterns of infection prevention in South Korea.

A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. The questionnaire was developed by a multidisciplinary discussion. From the Korean Network for Organ Sharing data, a list of hospitals that performed kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplantations in 2019 was selected. We invited participants to respond to the questionnaire via email from January to March 2022.

The response rates for each organ were as follows; 41% (31/76 hospitals) for kidney, 49% (25/51) for liver, 40% (8/20) for heart, and 89% (8/9) for lung transplantations. The median duration of antibacterial prophylaxis after transplant ranged from 5 to 7 days. Prophylaxis was commonly applied in cytomegalovirus (CMV) D+/R- recipients. For non-lung CMV R+ recipients, a preemptive strategy was the most common method. The duration of viral load monitoring for preemptive or hybrid strategies varied. All lung transplant programs used mold-active antifungal agents for a median of 6 months. An interferon-gamma release assay was most commonly used to screen for latent tuberculosis infections.

The infection prevention protocols in most transplant programs in Korea were generally in accordance with the guidelines. However, some variability was observed regarding antibacterial prophylaxis and CMV prevention. Our results provide useful insights into practice patterns and will assist in the development of national guidelines.