Perioperative blood usage and therapeutic plasma exchange in kidney transplantation during a 16-year period in South Korea

BackgroundThe frequency of kidney transplantation (KT) is increasing. Blood transfusion plays an important role in the success of KT. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is also used for desensitisation in ABO-incompatible KT and treatment of antibody-mediated rejection.Materials and methodsWe analysed red blood cell (RBC), platelet, and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) usage and the number of TPE procedures performed during the hospitalisation of KT patients from 2002 to 2017 using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Information Database.ResultsA total of 18,331 KT patients were included in this study. The number of transfused RBCs continued to increase from 4,806 units in 2002–2005 to 12,390 units in 2014–2017. However, the average number of RBCs transfused per patient decreased from 2.17 to 1.79 units. Estimated platelet usage increased from 4,259 units in 2002–2005 to 11,519 units in 2014–2017, and the proportion of filtered platelets increased from 72.6% to 83.4% during the same period. There was a huge increase in the total number of FFP units used, from 2,255 units in 2002–2005 to 51,531 units in 2014–2017. The number of TPE procedures performed also increased from 296 to 6,479 during the same period. Patients with acute rejection accounted for 8.8% of all KT patients, and more RBC and FFP were used for these patients and a greater number of TPE procedures were performed compared to those who did not experience rejection.DiscussionBlood usage and TPE have increased steadily with the increasing numbers of KTs. Therefore, continuous efforts are needed to ensure appropriate perioperative blood preparation and usage for KT patients.