Pancreas transplant

Alternative Names: Transplant - pancreas; Transplantation - pancreas

A pancreas transplant is surgery to implant a healthy pancreas from a donor into a patient with diabetes. Pancreas transplants give the patient a chance to stop taking insulin injections.

Description of Procedure

The healthy pancreas is taken from a donor who is brain dead, but is still on life support. The donor pancreas must be carefully matched to the patient who is receiving it.

A portion of the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum, is transplanted with the donor pancreas. The healthy pancreas is transported in a cooled solution that preserves the organ for up to 20 hours.

The patient's diseased pancreas is not removed during the operation. The donor pancreas is usually placed in the right lower part of the patient's abdomen. Blood vessels from the new pancreas are attached to the patient's blood vessels. The donor duodenum is attached to the patient's intestine or bladder.

The surgery for a pancreas transplant takes about 3 hours. However, the operation is usually done at the same time as a kidney transplant in diabetic patients with kidney disease. The combined operation takes about 6 hours.

Risks of Pancreas transplant

The risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Breathing problems
• Heart attack or stroke
• Infection or abscess
• Reactions to medications
• Scar formation

The risks for pancreas transplant include:

• Blood clots (deep venous thrombosis)
• Clotting (thrombosis) of the arteries or veins of the new pancreas
• Development of certain cancers after a few years
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Leakage of fluid from the new pancreas where it attaches to the intestine or bladder
• Rejection

The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ foreign, and fights it. To prevent rejection, organ transplant patients must take drugs (such as cyclosporine and corticosteroids) that weaken the body's immune response. This makes the person less able to fight infections and can cause other medical problems.

Endocrine glands	Pancreas transplant - series

Review Date: 5/4/2011
Reviewed By: Shabir Bhimji, MD, PhD, Specializing in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland, TX. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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