A Survey of National Practices of Anaesthesia for Live Donor Renal Transplantation

Abstract

Objective: To compare the institutional practices among patients undergoing living-related renal transplants in different hospitals throughout Pakistan.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces of Institute of Urology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jun 2020 to Jan 2021.

Methodology: Pakistan's leading kidney transplant centres were sent data electronically to ask about their anaesthetic practices. The methodology adopted was a simple questionnaire model that included 26 questions encompassing all the steps the anaesthesia team took for renal transplant. Uniformity in anaesthetic practices was expected in large centres through rigorous training and workload management. The teams responded according to their standard operating procedures and compared their answers using statistical formulas.

Results: Nine out of 11(81.8%) institutes responded. Marked heterogeneity in Anaesthesia practices was found among different institutes. Only 2(18.2%) institutes had Anaesthesia guidelines for a kidney transplant.

Conclusion: There is a need for centralized country-specific homogeneous guidelines for Anaesthesia for the kidney transplant to improve outcomes.