SYDNEY, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A clinical trial at hospitals in Australia and New Zealand has found that using a balanced low-chloride crystalloid solution instead of saline could help reduce the incidence of delayed graft function (DGF) on patients receiving deceased donor kidney transplantation.
In a research that was recently published in the Lancet, the Australasian Kidney Trials Network (AKTN) in collaboration with researchers from the University of Queensland, the University of Adelaide and the University of Sydney conducted the BEST-Fluids trial assessing the use of an intravenous fluid containing sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride in proportions similar to human blood.
More than 800 transplant recipients participated in this double-blind, randomised, controlled trial across 16 hospitals in the two countries between January 2018 and August 2020.
Professor David Johnson from University of Queensland said among the study participants who received intravenous balanced crystalloid solution, 30 percent needed dialysis after their transplants, compared to 40 percent for those given normal saline.
"This is a significant improvement in outcomes for those undergoing kidney transplant surgery," he said.
Royal Adelaide Hospital nephrologist Michael Collins, who led the study, said the findings would change world practice for kidney treatments.
"Balanced fluids are relatively cheap and widely available, which makes them a useful treatment for most of the estimated 200,000 kidney transplant operations that are conducted globally each year." ■
