Mean Warm Ischemia Time among Kidney Transplant Patients in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: In renal transplantation, warm ischemia time is the interval from the removal of a procured kidney from ice storage to initiating graft reperfusion. Successful kidney transplantation depends on warm ischemia time. The study aims to find the mean warm ischemia time among kidney transplant patients in a tertiary care centre. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among kidney transplant patients in a tertiary care centre. Data from 15 December 2012 to 15 October 2022 were collected between 1 December 2022 to 4 January 2023 from the hospital records. Ethical approval was taken from the Nepal Health Research Council (Reference number: 1341). All first-time living-related kidney transplant recipients were included in the study. All the patients undergoing kidney transplants from brain-dead donors were excluded from the study. Convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. RESULTS: Among 230 patients, the mean warm ischemia time was 35.45±7.35 min. The mean first warm ischemia time was 4.28±2.05 min and the mean second warm ischemia time was 31.27±7.04 min. The mean age of the recipients was 35.14±10.49 years (range 14-64), of which 173 (75.20%) were male and 57 (24.80%) were female. CONCLUSIONS: The mean warm ischemia time among kidney transplant patients in a tertiary care centre was similar to the studies done in similar settings.