Morbidity and mortality of serious gastrointestinal complications after lung transplantation

• Published in: Journal of cardiothoracic surgery Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 181 - 7
• Main Authors: Zevallos-Villegas, Annette, Alonso-Moralejo, Rodrigo, Cambra, Félix, Hermida-Anchuelo, Ana, Pérez-González, Virginia, Gámez-García, Pablo, Sayas-Catalán, Javier, De Pablo-Gafas, Alicia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 28-10-2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Arrhythmia; Basiliximab; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; Everolimus; Female; Gastrointestinal complications; Gastrointestinal diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases - etiology; Gastrointestinal Diseases - mortality; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lung Diseases - complications; Lung Diseases - surgery; Lung transplantation; Lung Transplantation - adverse effects; Lung Transplantation - mortality; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Morbidity; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Organ transplantation; Patient outcomes; Postoperative complications; Postoperative Complications - epidemiology; Postoperative Complications - mortality; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Spain; Surgery; Surgical complication; Surgical research; Survival Analysis; Survival Rate; Spain; Surgical complication; Mortality; Gastrointestinal complications; Lung transplantation
• ISSN: 1749-8090; 1749-8090
• DOI: 10.1186/s13019-019-0983-y

Gastrointestinal complications after lung transplatation are associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. This study aims to describe severe gastrointestinal complications (SGC) after lung transplantation.
We performed a prospective, observational study that included 136 lung transplant patients during a seven year period in a tertiary care universitary hospital. SGC were defined as any diagnosis related to the gastrointestinal or biliary tract leading to lower survival rates or an invasive therapeutic procedure. Early and late complications were defined as those occurring < 30 days and ≥ 30 days post-transplant. The survival function was calculated through the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Variables were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05.
There were 17 (12.5%) SGC in 17 patients. Five were defined as early. Twelve patients (70.6%) required surgical treatment. Mortality was 52.9% (n = 9). Patients with SGC had a lower overall survival rate compared to those who did not (14 vs 28 months, p = 0.0099). The development of arrhythmias in the first 48 h of transplantation was a risk factor for gastrointestinal complications (p = 0.0326).
SGC are common after lung transplantation and are associated with a considerable increase in morbidity-mortality. Early recognition is necessary to avoid delays in treatment, since a clear predictor has not been found in order to forecast this relevant comorbidity.