Effects of Dexmedetomidine on Microcirculation and Residual Kidney Function in Kidney Donors

Overview

Kidney transplant can help patients with end-stage kidney disease to get rid of dialysis and have a good quality life. However, during the renal donation operation, the stress response and subsequent inflammatory responses may result in damage to the residual kidney and transplanted kidney. Dexmedetomidine can increase urine output and decrease the neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin level in patients receiving coronary artery bypass surgery. The primary goal of this trial is to investigate the effects of perioperative infusion of dexmedetomidine on the microcirculation and residual kidney function in kidney donors and on the transplanted kidney function in kidney recipients.

Kidney transplant can help patients with end-stage kidney disease to get rid of dialysis and have a good quality life. However, during the renal donation operation, the stress response and subsequent inflammatory responses may result in damage to the residual kidney and transplanted kidney. In addition, the transplanted kidney will encounter ischemic and reperfusion injuries during kidney transplant, and it may affect its function. It has been reported in several animal studies that dexmedetomidine can reduce microcirculatory dysfunction, kidney injury, and intestinal injury. Moreover, dexmedetomidine can increase urine output and decrease the neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin level in patients receiving coronary artery bypass surgery. The primary goal of this trial is to investigate the effects of perioperative infusion of dexmedetomidine on the microcirculation and residual kidney function in kidney donors and on the transplanted kidney function in kidney recipients. This is a single blind and randomized controlled trial. The participants will be randomly assigned to the Control group or Dexmedetomidine group. The participants in the Control group will receive standard anesthesia care for kidney donation operation. Beside the standard anesthesia care, the participants in the Dexmedetomidine group will receive continuously intravascular infusion of dexmedetomidine since 10 minutes after anesthesia till one hour after operation. At several specific time points, participants will receive sublingual microcirculation examination by using an incident dark field video microscope and blood tests. The chart information will be recorded. The blood creatinine level of the kidney donors and recipients at 1 and 6 months will be recorded.