*Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine if a closed incision negative pressure wound therapy (ciNPWT) system prevents wound complications and surgical site infections (SSI) in kidney transplant (KT) recipients.

*Methods: Kidney transplant recipients over the age of 18 years, with a BMI over 25kg/m², were included in this study. A prospective cohort of KT recipients received the ciNPWT system as a dressing over the surgical wound and compared outcomes with a retrospective cohort of recipients who used standard dressings. We applied propensity score matching (PSM) to the analysis.

*Results: There were 87 KT recipients in total (61 standard dressing and 26 ciNPWT). After PSM, there were 26 matched pairs. Wound complications were similar in the unmatched cohort (27.9% vs 19.2%, p= 0.396), and PSM cohort (38.5% vs 19.2% p = 0.126) for standard dressing compared to ciNPWT respectively. SSI rates were similar for both standard dressing and ciNPWT groups in the unmatched cohort (8.2% vs 11.5%, p = 0.621), and PSM cohort (7.7% vs 11.5% p=0.638).

*Conclusions: There is no difference in wound complications and SSI in kidney transplant recipients with the use of ciNPWT compared to standard dressings.

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