Kidney transplantation is the process of surgically placing a healthy kidney near the patient’s diseased organ to replace the diseased organ’s function.

Pancreas transplantation will assist a partially functioning pancreas. Together, the two pancreas will produce digestive enzymes, while the transplanted organ will also produce insulin. At the Multi-Organ Transplant Center, patients withtype 1 diabetes , with the complication of kidney failure, may be candidates for simultaneous transplantation of kidney/pancreas. Transplantation of the pancreas alone is not common. However, exceptions to that rule are:

• pancreatic failure after a kidney/pancreas transplantation
• a living donor kidney

There are several steps that must be taken to lead the patient through the transplantation process.

To make sure that transplantation is a viable treatment choice, the patient will take part in consultations and evaluations and be assigned a transplant nurse coordinator who will take them through the evaluation process. The staff of the Multi-Organ Transplant Center will explain each test and procedure, involve the patient, family and referring physician in all decisions and work to create as comfortable an environment as possible during this time.

If the patient is deemed an appropriate candidate for kidney/pancreas transplantation, he or she will be listed on the organ transplantation waiting list through UNOS.

Related Links:

www.unos.org