UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Renal Transplant Patients

Category: Critical Care

Posted: 1/8/2019 by Mike Winters, MBA, MD (Updated: 3/7/2026)
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Critically Ill Renal Transplant Patients

Renal transplant patients are at high risk of critical illness from a variety of etiologies.
Sepsis is the most common reason for critical illness and ICU admission.
Due to their immunosuppression, renal transplant patients are at risk of a multitude of infections.
Notwithstanding, acute bacterial pyelonephritis of the transplant is the most frequent cuase of sepsis, followed by bacterial pneumonia.
Be sure to consider these two etiologies when faced with a critically ill, septic renal transplant patient.

Darmon M, et al. Ten tips to manage renal transplant recipients. Intensive Care Med. 2019. epub ahead of print.