Michael Collins, MBChB, FRACP, PhD, a kidney transplant specialist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, discusses his research on improving kidney transplant outcomes. He explains that during organ donation, a kidney can sustain damage leading to delayed graft function, which is a condition where the kidney doesn’t work immediately after the transplant operation. This affects around one-third to half of kidney transplant recipients, requiring them to continue dialysis treatment post operation. Collins and his team conducted a trial to determine if a new type of IV fluid, Plasma-Lyte, could reduce the risk of delayed graft function compared with standard saline solution. The results showed that Plasma-Lyte reduced the risk of delayed graft function from 40% to 30%. As a result, kidney transplant specialists in Australia and New Zealand are likely to change their practice to use Plasma-Lyte as the standard IV fluid for all kidney transplant patients. This simple change could potentially prevent 1 in 10 additional patients from needing dialysis for delayed graft function.