Musculoskeletal Pain in Renal-Transplant Recipients

Abstract

We describe here the occurrence of isolated musculoskeletal pain in 26 renal-transplant recipients, in which cyclosporine was incriminated as the cause of the pain. Between 1982 and 1985, 234 patients received renal transplants at our hospital according to four protocols for immunosuppression ( Fig. 1 ).¹ The diagnosis of isolated musculoskeletal pain was based on the findings described below. Patients with a history of rheumatic disease or an identifiable rheumatic disorder, epiphyseal osteonecrosis, serum sickness, or adrenal insufficiency were excluded, as were those whose original nephropathy was associated with a rheumatologic disease. Multivariate statistical analysis was performed on the results in 193 patients, after the exclusion of those who did not undergo immunosuppression and those who had early graft failure.