Pancreas Transplantation: An Alarming Crisis in Confidence |
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| Authors: | R. J. Stratta A. C. Gruessner J. S. Odorico J. A. Fridell R. W. G. Gruessner |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Surgery, Section of Transplantation, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston‐Salem, NC;2. Department of Surgery, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY;3. Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin‐Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI;4. Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN |
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| Abstract: | In the past decade, the annual number of pancreas transplantations performed in the United States has steadily declined. From 2004 to 2011, the overall number of simultaneous pancreas–kidney (SPK) transplantations in the United States declined by 10%, whereas the decreases in pancreas after kidney (PAK) and pancreas transplant alone (PTA) procedures were 55% and 34%, respectively. Paradoxically, this has occurred in the setting of improvements in graft and patient survival outcomes and transplanting higher‐risk patients. Only 11 centers in the United States currently perform ≥20 pancreas transplantations per year, and most centers perform <5 pancreas transplantations annually; many do not perform PAKs or PTAs. This national trend in decreasing numbers of pancreas transplantations is related to a number of factors including lack of a primary referral source, improvements in diabetes care and management, changing donor and recipient considerations, inadequate training opportunities, and increasing risk aversion because of regulatory scrutiny. A national initiative is needed to “reinvigorate” SPK and PAK procedures as preferred transplantation options for appropriately selected uremic patients taking insulin regardless of C‐peptide levels or “type” of diabetes. Moreover, many patients may benefit from PTAs because all categories of pancreas transplantation are not only life enhancing but also life extending procedures. |
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| Keywords: | editorial/personal viewpoint clinical research/practice kidney transplantation/nephrology organ procurement and allocation pancreas/simultaneous pancreas‐kidney transplantation diabetes donors and donation: deceased organ procurement recipient selection patient referral |
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