1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Aim and objectives
The European Association of Urology (EAU) Renal Transplantation Guidelines aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the medical and technical aspects relating to renal transplantation. It must be emphasised that clinical guidelines present the best evidence available to the experts but following guideline recommendations will not necessarily result in the best outcome. Guidelines can never replace clinical expertise when making treatment decisions for individual patients, but rather help to focus decisions - also taking personal values and preferences/individual circumstances of patients into account. Guidelines are not mandates and do not purport to be a legal standard of care.
1.2. Panel Composition
The EAU Renal Transplantation Guidelines panel consists of an international multidisciplinary group of urological surgeons, a nephrologist and a pathologist. All experts involved in the production of this document have submitted potential conflict of interest statements which can be viewed on the EAU website:
http://www.uroweb.org/guideline/renal-transplantation/.
1.3. Available publications
A quick reference document, the Pocket Guidelines, is available in print and as an app for iOS and Android devices. These are abridged versions which may require consultation together with the full text version. All are available through the EAU website: http://www.uroweb.org/guideline/renal-transplantation/.
1.4. Publication history
The EAU published the first Renal Transplantation Guidelines in 2003 with updates in 2004 and 2009. A comprehensive update of the 2009 document was published in 2017. This 2021 document is a full update of the 2017 Renal Transplantation Guidelines. The next update of the Renal Transplantation Guidelines will be published in 2024.