Approach to Kidney Allograft Dysfunction: A Brief Review

It is important for providers caring for kidney transplant recipients to be familiar with the common causes of allograft dysfunction. Early detection of allograft dysfunction leads to timely management, with the goal of preventing or delaying progression to allograft failure. Although transplant rejection is always a concern, the differential diagnoses for allograft dysfunction are broad and include perioperative complications, infections, recurrent disease, and calcineurin nephrotoxicity. In this review, we will go over early and late causes of allograft dysfunction and discuss the basic workup and principles of management for each condition.