What is the impact of surgical site infection on graft function in kidney transplant recipients?

• Published in: Transplant infectious disease 2010-10, Vol.12 (5), p.392-396
• Main Authors: Menezes, F.G., Wey, S.B., Peres, C.A., Medina-Pestana, J.O., Camargo, L.F.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; graft function; Humans; Kidney - physiopathology; kidney transplantation; Kidney Transplantation - adverse effects; Male; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; surgical site infection; Surgical Wound Infection - mortality; Surgical Wound Infection - physiopathology; Transplantation, Homologous
• ISSN: 1398-2273; 1399-3062
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-3062.2010.00527.x

F.G. Menezes, S.B. Wey, C.A. Peres, J.O. Medina‐Pestana, L.F.A. Camargo. What is the impact of surgical site infection on graft function in kidney transplant recipients?
Transpl Infect Dis 2010: 12: 392–396. All rights reserved : The impact of surgical site infections (SSIs) on graft function in kidney transplant recipients is controversial. We conducted a matched case–control study (1:1 ratio) between April 2001 and December 2004 in a Brazilian cohort of kidney transplant recipients. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of SSIs were described based on chart review. The impact on graft function was assessed by comparing serum creatinine measurements and creatinine clearance up to 18 months after transplantation with analysis of variance model. Among 1939 kidney transplants, 120 patients with 145 SSIs were enrolled. Most wound infections were superficial (73.1%). The mortality rate was 0.8%. No impact on graft function was detected. In conclusion, accurate identification of SSIs may have resulted in shorter hospitalization periods, but they had no impact on graft function up to 18 months post transplantation.