Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 02/17/2009
Once a donor pancreas is located and tissue typing deems it compatible, the patient is contacted and prepared for surgery. Blood tests, a chest x ray, and an electrocardiogram (ECG) are performed and an intravenous (IV) line is started for fluid...
and medication administration. Once the transplant procedure is ready to start, general anesthesia is administered.
The surgeon makes an incision under the ribs and locates the pancreas and duodenum. The pancreas and duodenum (part of the small intestine) are removed. The new pancreas and duodenum are then connected to the patient's duodenum, and the blood vessels are sutured together to restore blood flow to the new pancreas. The patient's original pancreas is left in place.
Replacing the duodenum allows the pancreas to drain into the gastrointestinal system. The transplant can also be done creating bladder drainage. Bladder drainage makes it easier to monitor organ rejection because pancreatic secretions can be measured in the patient's urine. Once the new pancreas is in place, the abdomen and skin are sutured closed. This surgery is often done at the same time as kidney transplant surgery.
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Other Information
A pancreas transplant is an organ transplant that involves implanting a healthy pancreas (one that can produce insulin) into a person who has diabetes. Because the pancreas performs functions necessary in the digestion process, the recipient's native pancreas is left in place, and the donated pancreas attached in a different location. In the event of rejection of the new pancreas, the recipient could not survive without the native pancreas still in place. The healthy pancreas comes from a donor who has just died or it may be a partial pancreas from a living donor. Whole pancreas transplants from living donors are not possible, again because the pancreas is a necessary organ for digestion. At present, pancreas transplants are usually performed in persons with insulin-dependent diabetes who have severe complications.
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