[Incidence of infectious complications and their risk factors in the first year after renal transplantation].

INTRODUCTION Infectious complications significantly increase morbidity and mortality after renal transplantation. The immunosuppression used is the main risk factor and relates directly to the incidence and severity of infectious events. METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study, which assessed the incidence of infections and their risk factors among 1,676 kidney transplant recipients during the first year of follow-up. RESULTS Infectious events were observed in 821 (49%) patients. The mean number of infectious episodes among patients with at least one episode was 2.3 (1 -12). The most prevalent infectious complications were as follows: urinary tract infection (31.3%); cytomegalovirus infection (12%); surgical wound infection (10.3%); herpes virus infection (9.1%); pulmonary infection (5.2%); and bloodstream infection (4.3%). Cold ischemia time and the use of deceased donor grafts were important risk factors for infectious episodes. CONCLUSIONS Infections are highly prevalent in the first year following transplantation. The main infectious complication was urinary tract infection.