Pancreas transplantation in the United States: a review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The goal of pancreas transplantation is to restore normoglycemia in patients with labile diabetes. The results of this procedure improved over the years, but, although pancreas transplantation is not considered experimental anymore, there is often reluctance to recommend this procedure because of the complexity, especially for solitary pancreas transplants. This article reviews the current status of pancreas transplantation.

RECENT FINDINGS: Many improvements have been made in the surgical techniques and immunosuppressive regimens. The overall rate of technical problems decreased, yet immunologic graft loss is still a problem in solitary pancreas transplants. Careful donor selection significantly decreased the risk of graft failure and therefore improved patient survival.

SUMMARY: With modern immunosuppressive protocols and careful donor selection, patient survival rates and pancreas transplant graft function can be further improved in all three pancreas transplant categories.