Spinal surgery following renal transplantation

Abstract Background With the improvement in postoperative care for renal transplant patients, the number of patients requiring spinal surgery after renal transplantation has been increasing. However, there have been only a few reports describing the results of spinal surgery in renal transplant recipients. In this study, we investigated the results of spine surgery in renal transplant recipients. Methods A total of 37 renal transplant recipients who underwent spinal surgery in our hospital between April 2003 and July 2012 were included in this study. Results Perioperative complications were observed in 6 cases (16.2%). Two of them (5.3%) were general complications including duodenal ulcer and acute renal failure. The other four complications (10.8%) were directly related to surgery, namely, epidural hematoma, neurological deterioration and two surgical site infections. No patient required permanent hemodialysis postoperatively. Twenty-five fusion surgeries were performed and pseudoarthrosis was observed in 3 cases (12.0%). Conclusion Spinal surgery in renal transplant recipients can be performed without major complications or requirement for permanent hemodialysis postoperatively. Our data also showed a high rate of surgical site infection and pseudoarthrosis after fusion surgery.