Perioperative fluid and drug therapy during cadaver kidney transplantation.

1. For all outcome measures associated with delayed onset of urine output and the need for posttransplant dialysis, the prognosis is poor. Low 1-year graft survival of 49% and patient mortality of 13% associated with delayed function make it exceedingly important to identify measures that induce immediate posttransplant kidney function. 2. Intraoperative blood volume expansion with albumin improves short- and long-term posttransplant function at every level of analysis, including earlier urine onset, larger urine volumes, improved kidney function, decreased incidence of delayed and no function, and greater graft and patient survival. 3. Aggressive intraoperative blood volume expansion during cadaver renal transplantation enables the safe use of intraoperative verapamil without inducing hypotensive complications. 4. Intraoperative verapamil improves the decreased renal blood flow associated with poor function as seen after organ procurement and cold ischemia. 5. Clinical studies confirm previous animal research demonstrating that verapamil and other calcium antagonists prevent CsA-induced deterioration of renal blood flow. 6. Several studies have demonstrated elevated CsA blood concentrations during concomitant treatment with verapamil and diltiazem but not with the dihydropyridine class of calcium antagonists. 7. Despite the higher CsA blood levels, kidney function, as determined by serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate, improves with verapamil. 8. Verapamil given intraoperatively into the renal artery after revascularization improves renal function and reduces the need for posttransplant hemodialysis. 9. The combination of intraoperative verapamil and blood volume expansion acts synergistically, resulting in larger urine volumes, improved renal function, and decreased incidence of delayed function. 10. Most importantly, perioperative administration of albumin and verapamil independent of each other, significantly improves graft survival. 11. The beneficial effects of albumin are probably due to improved hemodynamics from increased blood and plasma volumes leading to better renal perfusion and prompt oxygenation. Secondly, blood volume expansion provides a safeguard against the intraoperative use of verapamil. The beneficial effects of verapamil on posttransplant outcome may be related to cellular protection from ischemia, selected vasodilation of the afferent arteriole, inherent immunosuppressive properties, and elevated CsA blood levels.