Incidence Rate and Predictors of Delayed Graft Function Among Adult Kidney Transplant Recipients at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background Delayed graft function (DGF) is the most common early postoperative complication of renal transplantation. The occurrence of DGF can lead to both early and late devastating consequences on the allograft’s survival. The risk of developing this complication can increase with certain factors that are related to both the donor and the recipient. In the present study, we aimed to detect the incidence rate of DGF among patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and to investigate potential predictors of DGF. Materials and methods This retrospective chart review was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria were all patients, 18 years or older, who had renal transplantation from January 1, 2016, to March 31, 2020. Patients who had a second renal transplant, or renal transplantation in a different hospital and were followed up at KAMC were excluded. Patients’ medical records were accessed using the BESTCare electronic system to obtain the patients’ demographic data. A Chi-square test was used to test for the association between a predictor and a delay in graft function. Results A total of 344 patients were enrolled in the present study, approximately half of whom were males (56.6%, n=189). Around one-half (49.4%) were aged between 40 and 64 years. The most common cause of renal failure was hypertension, which was found in 117 (35%) patients, followed by diabetes mellitus (DM) in 94 (28.1%) patients. Most organ donors 258 (77.2%) were alive. A total of 23 (6.9%) participants developed DGF. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was found to be significantly associated with DGF (P < 0.001). Those who took MMF (5.9%) had a significantly lower rate of DGF compared to those who did not (36.4%). A significantly higher rate of DGF was seen in patients whose transplants were taken from deceased donors (15.5%) compared to living donor transplants (3.9%). Gender, age, body mass index (BMI), recipient blood type, donor blood type, and cause of renal failure were not associated with DGF. Conclusions Only 6.9% of the study’s participants exhibited DGF. The observed rate was lower than the ones detected in the literature. Those who took MMF had a significantly lower rate of DGF compared to those who did not. Transplants of deceased donors (15.5%) showed a significantly higher rate of DGF. Larger multicenter studies are required to further investigate DGF in a region with a high prevalence of organ failure and a higher need for transplantations, such as Saudi Arabia.