Pancreas Graft Duct Management (US)

In the US, bladder drainage (BD) has been used for the majority of pancreas transplants. However, both the number of enteric drainage (ED) cases and the number of centers performing this drainage technique began increasing in 1994. By 1998, the number of centers who reported using this drainage technique at least once increased from 29% to 94% (Figure 7).

For 1998, over 50% of analyzed SPK cases were done with ED, an increase from 6% in 1994. Use of ED in PAK and PTA showed slower but still significant growth: in 1997, 41% of PAK and 56% of PTA (Figure 8).

Figure 7

Figure 8

In the SPK category for US cadaveric 1994-1998 cases, there was little difference in outcome between BD and ED cases. The use of a Roux-en-Y loop of bowel made no difference in ED outcome. Kidney graft survival rates were high regardless of the method of pancreas duct management (Figure 9).

Figure 9