Most Common Complications in Patients Post Liver Transplantation at a Hospital in Mexico.

Introduction and Objectives

Liver transplantation worldwide presents a series of complications that need to be identified to adequately treat and prevent them; however, information about these in Mexico is limited. The objective is to report the epidemiology of these complications in a third-level hospital transplant center in Mexico

Materials and Patients

A cohort study was conducted, including post-liver transplant patients from 2019 to 2023. The presence of infectious and postsurgical complications after the event was determined, as well as the rate of both acute and chronic rejection. Data are expressed using descriptive statistics with proportions and percentages for qualitative variables and mean and standard deviation or median and range for quantitative variables.

Results

110 patients were included, 46 women and 64 men with a mean age of [insert average age]. Complications were classified according to type and timing of presentation after surgery. Regarding rejection rates, a 10.00% acute rejection was observed with a mean presentation of 7.6±6.6 months, and 2.8% chronic rejection (mean time: 17.7±8.1 months). Results are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Conclusions

Complications in liver transplant recipients are common and jeopardize both patient life and graft function. Although rejection rates remain high, our center presents a favorable epidemiology compared to reported literature, below global rates for acute rejection (15-25%) and chronic rejection (3-17%).

Ethical statement: The research was conducted following the Helsinki Declaration of the World Assembly 2013.

Declaration of interests: None.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Table 1.

Postoperative, Early, and Late Complications Following Liver Transplantation

	Post operative		Early		Late
Liver Rejection	n	Average	n	Average	n	Average
Acute Rejection	0	0	6	5.454545455	5	4.545454545
Chronic Rejection	0	0	0	0	3	2.727272727
Infections	n	Average	n	Average	n	Average
Pneumonia	0	0	17	15.45454545	0	0
Infectious Diarrhea	0	0	14	12.72727273	0	0
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)	1	0.90909091	9	8.181818182	0	0
Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (PBE)	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI)	0	0	5	4.545454545	0	0
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)	0	0	4	3.636363636	0	0
Cholangitis	0	0	3	2.727272727	1	0.909090909
Abdominal Abscess	0	0	3	2.727272727	0	0
Oropharyngeal/Esophageal Candidiasis	0	0	3	2.727272727	0	0
Soft Tissue Infection	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Osteomyelitis	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Bacteremia	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Postsurgical Complications	n	Average	n	Average	n	Average
Biliary Stricture	0	0	5	4.545454545	2	1.818181818
Hemothorax	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Pneumothorax	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Abdominal Wall Hematoma	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Retroperitoneal Hematoma	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Hemoperitoneum	2	1.81818182	0	0	0	0
Cavo-Suprahepatic Stenosis	0	0	0	0	1	0.909090909
Abdominal Adhesions	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Miscellaneous	n	Average	n	Average	n	Average
Non-inflammatory Diarrhea	2	1.81818182	7	6.363636364	11	10
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)	11	10	13	11.81818182	11	10
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)	0	0	8	7.272727273	5	4.545454545
De novo Primary Biliary Cholangitis	0	0	0	0	1	0.909090909
Portal Vein Thrombosis	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Pleural Effusion	2	1.81818182	2	1.818181818	0	0
Seizures	4	3.63636364	1	0.909090909	0	0
Cancer Relapse	0	0	0	0	1	0.909090909
Non-variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Anal Fistula	0	0	0	0	1	0.909090909
Pathological Fractures	0	0	2	1.818181818	0	0
Lymphoid Hyperplasia	0	0	1	0.909090909	0	0
Unstable Angina	1	0.90909091	0	0	0	0
Superficial Venous System Thrombosis	0	0	0	0	1	0.909090909