Recommendations for the outpatient surveillance of renal transplant recipients

Many complications after renal transplantation can be prevented if they are detected early. Guidelines have been developed for the prevention of disea ses in the general population, but there are no comprehensive guidelines fo r the prevention of diseases and complications after renal transplantation. Therefore, the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Soci ety of Transplantation developed these guidelines to help physicians and ot her health care workers provide optimal care for renal transplant recipient s. The guidelines are also intended to indirectly help patients receive the access to care that they need to ensure long-term allograft survival, by a ttempting to systematically define what that care encompasses. The guidelin es are applicable to all adult and pediatric renal transplant recipients, a nd they cover the outpatient screening for and prevention of diseases and c omplications that commonly occur after renal transplantation. They do not c over the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and complications after they b ecome manifest, and they do not cover the pretransplant evaluation of renal transplant candidates. The guidelines are comprehensive, but they do not p retend to cover every aspect of care. As much as possible, the guidelines a re evidence-based, and each recommendation has been given a subjective grad e to indicate the strength of evidence that supports the recommendation. It is hoped that these guidelines will provide a framework for additional dis cussion and research that will improve the care of renal transplant recipie nts.