Safety and utility of panniculectomy in renal transplant candidates and end stage renal disease patients

BackgroundAs the obesity crisis in the United States continues, some renal transplantation centers have liberalized their BMI criteria necessary for transplant eligibility. More individuals with larger body-habitus related comorbidities with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) now qualify for renal transplantation (RT). Surgical modalities from other fields also interact with this patient population.MethodsIn order to assess surgical outcomes of panniculectomy in the context of renal transplantation and ESRD, the authors performed a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. Due to a paucity of existing primary studies, we retrospectively collected data on patients with ESRD undergoing panniculectomy from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) to evaluate outcomes of body contouring in this patient population.ResultsFrom the systematic review, a total of 783 ESRD patients underwent panniculectomy among the studies identified. Of these, 91 patients underwent panniculectomy simultaneously to RT while 692 had their pannus resected prior to kidney transplant. The most common complication was hematoma followed by wound dehiscence. From the NSQIP database, 24 868 patients met the inclusion criteria for analysis. In the setting of renal transplant status, patients with diabetes, hypertension requiring medication, and requiring dialysis were more likely to suffer postoperative complications (OR 1.31, 1.15, and 2.2, respectively). However, upon sub-analysis of specific types of complications, the only retained association was between diabetes and wound complication.ConclusionPreliminary data show that panniculectomy in ESRD patients appears to be safe, though with a nominal increased risk for complications. Pannus resection does not appear to impact post-transplantation outcomes, including long-term allograft survival. Larger, higher powered, randomized studies are needed to confirm the safety, utility, and medical benefit of panniculectomy in the context of renal transplantation.