Vasopressin Use During Liver Transplantation Is Not Associated with Severe Acute Kidney Injury: A Propensity Score Adjusted Regression Analysis v1

Acute kidney injury is a common complication after liver transplantation. Acute kidney injury occurrence in this population determines higher mortality, increased graft loss, longer hospital and intensive care unit stays, and more progression to chronic kidney disease. Hemodynamic derangements are treated intraoperatively with vasopressor medications to uphold a mean arterial pressure within the autoregulatory range of the kidney, but the impact of their use, as well as the choice of medication, on postoperative kidney function, is relatively unknown. Vasopressin acts as a portal flow modulator, has a potential catecholamine-sparing effect, and provides benefits for kidney function during distributive shock. The investigators hypothesized that the intraoperative use of vasopressin could reduce the incidence of postoperative severe acute kidney injury after liver transplantation and planned a retrospective single-center propensity score-adjusted regression analysis to test this hypothesis.