Standardized intraoperative application of an absorbable polysaccharide hemostatic powder to reduce the incidence of lymphocele after kidney transplantation – a prospective trial

We assessed whether standardized application of an absorbable polysaccharide hemostatic powder (HaemoCer™) has an effect on lymphocele rate after kidney transplantation. For this nonrandomized prospective trial, we first aimed to know our center‐specific lymphocele rate diagnosed by ultrasound imaging. We retrospectively assessed all patient records of the elapsed year resulting in a center‐specific rate of 20%, this was consistent with literature. The power analysis showed that 108 patients were required to detect a 50% reduction in lymphocele rate. During the prospective study period, 155 patients undergoing kidney transplantation were recruited to receive HaemoCer™ intraoperatively. In two patients, the product accidentally was not used. Six patients were excluded from analysis because of failure to complete follow‐up (one early death and five early graft failures). Of the remaining 147 patients, 15 developed lymphoceles, which represents a rate of 10.2%; (95% CI: 6.3–16.2%). Compared to the expected occurrence, this was significantly lower (P = 0.003). Lymphoceles appeared to be associated with preoperative donor‐specific antibody, retransplantation and immunoadsorption in HLA or ABO incompatible donors. At our institution, the frequency of lymphoceles after kidney transplantation appeared to be significantly reduced when HaemoCer™ was applied routinely. The magnitude of the effect warrants randomized evaluation.