Hydration status of patients with end-stage renal disease after kidney transplantation

Background: This study was carried out to estimate the modification of hydration status within the first three months of renal transplantation. Subjects and methods: Fifty patients who underwent a first kidney allograft were prospectively followed for three months after renal transplantation to assess hydration status by bioimpedance spectroscopy. Results: Two hours before the transplant procedure, 10/42 (23.8%) patients were overhydrated. Two days after surgery, 32/40 (80.0%) patients were overhydrated and at three months, 14/27 (51.9%) patients remained fluid-overloaded. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients had a lower hydration status (-0.60 L) than hemodialysis (HD) patients (0.70 L; p < 0.05) and better residual diuresis (41.7 vs. 8.3 mL/h for HD patients, p < 0.01). Compared with patients who had a delayed graft function (DGF) or a slow graft function (SGF), the immediate graft function (IGF) group had a better hydration status before transplantation (p = 0.031). At three months, 12/14 of the overhydrated patients had a creatinine clearance between 30 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2). Conclusion: Patients receiving a first kidney transplant frequently have a hydration disorder. Transplantation is associated with increased hydration status, which seems to persist if DGF or SGF occurs.