What is the purpose of pancreas transplantation?
The pancreas secretes insulin to regulate glucose (sugar) metabolism. Failure to regulate glucose levels leads to diabetes. Over one million patients in the United States have insulin dependent (type I) diabetes mellitus. Successful pancreas transplantation allows the body to make and secrete its own insulin, and establishes insulin independence for these patients. Pancreas transplantation is major surgery that requires suppression of the immune system to prevent the body from rejecting the transplanted pancreas. Immunosuppressive drugs have serious side effects. Because of these side effects, in 1996, 85% of pancreas transplants were performed simultaneously with kidney transplants, 10% after a kidney transplant, and only 5% were performed as a pancreas transplant alone. The rationale for this is that patients will already be receiving immunosuppressive treatments for the kidney transplant, so they might as well receive the benefit of a pancreas transplant as well. Patients considerin
