Clinical Impact of Surgical Complications in Kidney Transplant Recipients in a Reference Hospital in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Background. Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with stage V chronic kidney disease, which does not have contraindications to the procedure and is more cost-effective than dialysis treatments and provides better survival and quality of life. Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of postoperative complications in kidney transplant recipients in a reference hospital. Methodology. This was a descriptive and retrospective study involving the analysis of patient records during hospitalization and outpatient treatment. We analyzed the demographics, clinical indicators, surgical techniques, and postoperative complications. Results. In the analysis of 147 transplantations, there was a higher incidence of transplantation in female recipients, average age of 37 years with a predominance of cadaveric transplantation. Of all pretransplantation comorbidities, hypertension was the most frequent. The overall incidence of surgical complications was 29.9%, with an incidence of vascular complications of 12.7%, 13.4% of surgical site complications, 8.2% of urologic complications, and 3% of hemorrhagic complications. Discussion. Vascular complications are serious complications and are associated with increased risk of graft loss (relative risk, 8.4), particularly arterial thrombosis. Patients with ureteral anastomosis using Lich-Gregoir technique showed lower urologic complications compared with patients with anastomosis by Leadbetter-Politano technique. Conclusion. Surgical complications have different clinical effects, depending on their category. The vascular complications are associated with graft lost.