Better Evidence for Selecting Transplant Fluids

End-stage kidney disease is a significant public health problem worldwide, and its treatment imposes a high healthcare burden and cost. Kidney transplantation is considered the best treatment for ESKD, offering improved survival and quality of life at significantly lower cost that dialysis. However, many kidney transplants fail prematurely due in part due to injury sustained at the time of transplantation. Delayed graft function (DGF), i.e. the requirement for dialysis early after transplantation, affects approximately 30% of deceased donor kidney transplants, and increases the risk of graft failure and mortality.

Intravenous fluids are a critical, albeit inexpensive, aspect of care that impacts early transplant function with normal (0.9%) saline the current standard care at most centres. However, normal saline may in fact be harmful in the setting of kidney transplantation due to its high chloride content relative to plasma, causing metabolic acidosis, acute kidney injury and thus potentially increasing the risk of DGF. Utilising a balanced low-chloride crystalloid solution such as Plasma-Lyte 148® (Plasmalyte) as an alternative to 0.9% saline may therefore improve outcomes after kidney transplantation.

The BEST-Fluids study is an investigator-initiated, pragmatic, registry-based, multi-centre, double -blind randomised, controlled trial. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effect in deceased donor kidney transplant recipients of intravenous therapy with Plasmalyte versus 0.9% saline, commencing pre-operatively and continuing until intravenous fluids are no longer required or 48 hours post-transplant (whichever is earliest), on DGF, defined as the requirement for dialysis in the first seven days post-transplant.

Patients admitted for a deceased donor kidney transplant at participating centres will be invited to participate in the study prior to transplant surgery. Following informed consent, participants will be randomised to receive either blinded Plasmalyte or blinded 0.9% saline for all intravenous fluid therapy purposes until 48 hours post-transplant. The volume and rate of fluid therapy will be determined by treating clinicians; all other treatments will be as per local standard of care. Participants will be enrolled, randomised and followed up using ANZDATA, the Australia & New Zealand Dialysis & Transplant Registry.

The trial was prospectively registered with Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) on 08/03/2017 (ACTRN12617000358347).

Inclusion criteria

• Adult or child with End-Stage Kidney Disease, of any cause, on maintenance dialysis, or who has pre-dialysis stage 5 chronic kidney disease with an estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate of <15 mL/min/1.73m2, AND
• Planned deceased donor kidney transplant from a brain-death (DBD) or circulatory-death (DCD) organ donor within 24 hours, AND
• Written informed consent, or consent given by their parent or guardian (if age <18), or other authorised person

Exclusion criteria

• Planned live donor kidney transplant (except where this is cancelled in favour or transplantation from a deceased donor)
• Planned multi-organ transplant (dual or en-bloc kidney transplants are not excluded)
• Children of weight <20 kg, or a child that the treating physician believes should not be included in a study of blinded fluids due to their small body size
• Known hypersensitivity to the trial fluid preparations or packaging