Nickan Research Institute Journal of Renal Injury Prevention 2345-2781 8 2 2019 06 01 Risk factors for delayed graft function in deceased donor kidney transplantation; a potential preventive role for intraoperative thymoglobulin 157 163 10.15171/jrip.2019.29 EN Neda Naderi Azam Alamdari Mahboob Lessan-Pezeshki Simin Dashti-Khavidaki Mehran Heydari-Seradj Armin Safdarpour Hamid Moradi Ahmad Mehdizadeh Mohammad-Reza Khatami Journal Article 10.15171/jrip.2019.29 2019 12 10 2019 01 05 Introduction: Delayed graft function (DGF) is associated with significant adverse outcomes in deceased donor kidney transplantation (KT) including lower graft survival. However, risk factors and potential preventive strategies like intraoperative rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG; thymoglobulin) have not yet been fully evaluated. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate DGF risk factors and determine the association of intraoperative rATG with the risk of DGF in deceased donor kidney recipients. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively examined medical records of 163 first time deceased donor kidney transplant recipients at two major kidney transplant centers from 2014 to 2016. All the donors were standard heart-beating, brain death donors. Risk factors for DGF in recipients were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The mean recipients’ age was 43±13 years and the majority of participants were male (64%). The overall rate of DGF was 27%. Intraoperative rATG was significantly associated with a lower rate of DGF (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.33, 95% CI, 0.11-0.95). Intraoperative transfusion (AOR, 3.7, 95% CI, 1.4-9.9) and diabetes mellitus (AOR, 3.7, 95% CI, 1.5-8.9) were significantly associated with higher risk of DGF. Conclusion: This study showed that intraoperative blood transfusion and diabetes mellitus were associated with increased risk of DGF. Meanwhile, administration of intraoperative rATG was associated with reduced odds ratio of DGF. Future studies are needed to evaluate the potential role of rATG in DGF-related renal outcomes.