Single-staple technique for pancreas allograft procurement.
BACKGROUND
Stapling devices have been used routinely during pancreas procurement for duodenal stumps closure, however, their cost is significant. In this letter we described an alternative stapling technique in order to reduce the number of loads as well as cost during pancreas procurement.


METHODS
We have been using rapid en bloc technique for simultaneous liver and pancreas procurement. The proposed modification entails a single staple for transection of both duodenum and jejunum.


RESULTS
We did not observe complication with the technique described herein, including leaking of gastrointestinal content during the procurement, storage, or transportation of pancreas allograft.


CONCLUSIONS
We believe that the technique described here is a simple and cost-effective maneuver that could be safely used during the pancreas harvesting.
Cruz
Ruy J
RJ
Starzl Transplantation Institute, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. cruzrj@upmc.edu
D004386:Duodenum / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007583:Jejunum / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D009926:Organ Preservation; D010179:Pancreas / Q000601:surgery; D016035:Pancreas Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D017792:Surgical Stapling / Q000379:methods*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods*