Postoperative management of lung transplant recipients

Survival after lung transplantation is inferior to that of other solid organ transplants. Although short-term (30-day and 1-year) survival have improved steadily over recent eras, 5-year survival has not changed significantly in the two eras from 1999–2008 and 2009–2015 (1). Improvement in short-term survival is likely a result of both improved surgical techniques and better management in the immediate post-operative period. The most common causes of death in the first 30 days after transplant are graft failure, accounting for 24.3% of deaths, and infection, accounting for 19.2% of deaths (1). Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) remains the leading cause of death after the first year post lung transplantation. This article will review the early postoperative complications following lung transplantation including primary graft dysfunction (PGD), arrhythmias, infection, and non-pulmonary organ failure