Two hundred consecutive simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants with bladder drainage.
BACKGROUND
Since 1982, 288 pancreas transplantations have been performed at the University of Wisconsin. This report reviews our experience with 200 consecutive simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantations during a 7-year period.


METHODS
Two hundred consecutive SPK transplantations were performed between December 1985 to October 1992. Immediate posttransplant function and surgical and infectious complications were evaluated. Frequency of rejection episodes were analyzed, as was 5-year patient and graft survival.


RESULTS
All but four pancreas transplants functioned immediately after transplantation. Three pancreas transplants failed because of thrombosis and one from primary nonfunction. Five-year patient survival was 90.2%, kidney survival 80.3%, and pancreas survival 78.6%. There were 54 surgical complications. Fifteen patients have died since 1985. The most frequent cause of death was infection (three patients). A total of 678 infectious episodes were recorded. Urinary tract infection (n = 344) was the most frequent type of infection. Enteric conversion was necessary in 35 patients, with the most frequent indication being a leak of the duodenal segment.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded from this series that SPK transplantation is associated with higher cost and morbidity as compared with kidney transplantation alone. However, excellent long-term survival in combination with the clearly demonstrated benefits for secondary diabetic complications indicate that SPK transplantation is the procedure of choice for carefully selected patients with diabetes.
Sollinger
H W
HW
Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison.
Ploeg
R J
RJ
Eckhoff
D E
DE
Stegall
M D
MD
Isaacs
R
R
Pirsch
J D
JD
D'Alessandro
A M
AM
Knechtle
S J
SJ
Kalayoglu
M
M
Belzer
F O
FO
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009926:Organ Preservation; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000191:economics; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000601:surgery*; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000209:etiology