Risk factors for prolonged hospitalization after kidney transplants

A major variable in the cost of kidney transplants is the length of initial hospitalization. Using multivariate analysis, we studied risk factors for hospital stay > 10 d post-transplant. Between 1 January 1985 and 31 August 1995 a total of 1588 patients underwent first or second kidney transplants at the University of Minnesota. Antibody was used for 1 wk in cadaver donor recipients and for 2 wk in pediatric recipients (resulting in a long stay for all pediatric recipients). Adult living related donor recipients were immunosuppressed with triple therapy. Donor risk factors studied were age (< 15, 15-50, > 50 yr) and, for cadaver recipients, preservation time (< 12, 12-18, 18-24, 24-30, > 30 h) and cause of death (trauma, cerebrovascular accident, or cardiac). Recipient risk factors studied were age (< 18, 18-55, > 55 yr); sex; transplant number; antigen mismatch; peak PRA; PRA at transplant (< 11, 11-50, > 50); diabetic status; pretransplant dialysis (vs. pre-emptive transplant); pretransplant cardiac, peripheral vascular, or respiratory disease; and delayed graft function (DGF) (dialysis in the first week vs. no dialysis). Risk factors were analyzed separately for living donor and cadaver donor recipients. For cadaver donor recipients, DGF was the major risk factor (p < 0.0001); others were age 55 yr (p = 0.03) and diabetes (p = 0.02). For living donor recipients, DGF was also a risk factor (p = 0.003); others were diabetes (p = 0.01), retransplant (p = 0.006), PRA at transplant > 50 (p < 0.0001), age > 55 yr (p = 0.02), pretransplant respiratory disease (p = 0.005), and pretransplant dialysis (p = 0.005). Because DGF was the major risk factor for a prolonged stay, we then studied risk factors for DGF using multivariate analysis. For cadaver donor recipients, risk factors were recipient weight > 90 kg (p = 0.004), preservation time 24 h (p = 0.03), PRA at transplant > 50 (p = 0.03), and donor age < 15 or > 50 yr (p = 0.002). For Living donor recipients, risk factors were recipient age < 18 yr (p = 0.01), donor age > 50 yr (p = 0.03), female sex (p = 0.05), pre transplant respiratory disease (p = 0.1), pretransplant peripheral vascular disease (p = 0.05), and recipient weight > 90 kg (p = 0.1). From our data, a profile emerged of recipients likely to have a longer hospital stay. Important variables, either simultaneous with or related to DGF include donor and recipient age, diabetes, pretransplant recipient weight, PRA at transplant, preservation time, and pretransplant respiratory or peripheral vascular disease.