RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with stage V chronic kidney disease, which does not have contraindications to the procedure and is more cost-effective than dialysis treatments and provides better survival and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of postoperative complications in kidney transplant recipients in a reference hospital. METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive and retrospective study involving the analysis of patient records during hospitalization and outpatient treatment. We analyzed the demographics, clinical indicators, surgical techniques, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: In the analysis of 147 transplantations, there was a higher incidence of transplantation in female recipients, average age of 37 years with a predominance of cadaveric transplantation. Of all pretransplantation comorbidities, hypertension was the most frequent. The overall incidence of surgical complications was 29.9%, with an incidence of vascular complications of 12.7%, 13.4% of surgical site complications, 8.2% of urologic complications, and 3% of hemorrhagic complications. DISCUSSION: Vascular complications are serious complications and are associated with increased risk of graft loss (relative risk, 8.4), particularly arterial thrombosis. Patients with ureteral anastomosis using Lich-Gregoir technique showed lower urologic complications compared with patients with anastomosis by Leadbetter-Politano technique. CONCLUSION: Surgical complications have different clinical effects, depending on their category. The vascular complications are associated with graft lost.