A meta-analysis of odds ratios comparing the risks of participating in transplant tourism by acquiring a kidney abroad to the risks associated with domestic kidney transplant was undertaken. Comparison across 12 medical outcomes indicates transplant tourists are significantly more likely to contract cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B, HIV, post-transplantation diabetes mellitus, and wound infection than those receiving domestic kidney transplant. Results also indicate that domestic kidney transplant recipients experience significantly higher one-yr patient- and graft-survival rates. Analyses are supplemented by independent comparisons of outcomes and provide practitioners with weighted estimates of the proportion of transplant recipients experiencing 15 medical outcomes. Practitioners are encouraged to caution patients of the medical risks associated with transplant tourism. Despite the illegal and unethical nature of transplant tourism, additional efforts are indicated to eliminate the organ trade and to educate wait-listed patients about the risks of transplant tourism. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Kidney transplantation Commercial transplant Organ trade Organ transplantation Organ trafficking Living donors

Pakistan China wound infection Human immunodeficiency virus infection India Tissue Donors survival rate human risk assessment Communicable Diseases effect size diabetes mellitus comparative study priority journal Taiwan prognosis Tissue and Organ Procurement meta analysis Humans Saudi Arabia graft rejection graft survival Waiting Lists patient education Article health care utilization kidney graft Kidney Transplantation medical tourism postoperative complication hepatitis B Cytomegalovirus