Renal Transplantation in Older Adults, an Updated Review

The purpose of this paper will be to review the most recent literature regarding renal transplantation in an older population. We aim to bring the reader up to date on this topic, and see what challenges are posed by transplanting this ever increasing population.

Renal transplantation in older adults is a continually evolving field. We review outcomes for older patients in remaining on dialysis, outcomes with living donors, outcomes vs younger patients, readmission, frailty, quality of life, immunosuppressant management, and our own centers experience.

We show, through various papers, that outcomes for older adults are better with receiving a kidney transplant than staying on dialysis. Outcomes for older recipients vs younger recipients are also acceptable, especially when one factors in death censored graft survival. Older patients also require special consideration to keep their readmission rate low, balance their immunosuppressant requirements, and correctly evaluate their frailty.