Pancreas Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Pancreas Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

Gastrointestinal bleeding from enterically drained transplanted pancreas.

Orsenigo E, Fiorina P, Dell'Antonio G, Cristallo M, Socci C, Invernizzi L, Maffi P, Secchi A, Di Carlo V

Department of Surgery, Università Vita e Salute-San Raffaele, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy. elenaors@libero.it

Gastrointestinal bleeding has been described as related complication of pancreas transplantation. Of 166 simultaneous pancreas kidney transplantations, 61 were enteric-drained pancreas transplants (eight done with and 53 without Roux-en-Y loop). The patients were divided into two groups according to Roux (group I, n = 8) or no Roux (group II, n = 53) technique. Seven patients experienced anastomotic hemorrhage between the jejunum and duodenal stump (11%), five cases in group I and two in group II (P < 0.001). No relationships between gastrointestinal bleeding duodenal stump and recipient jejunum blood flow, mean pancreatic cold ischemia time, platelet count, and prothrombin time were observed. Donor age over 40 years and abnormal activated partial thromboplastin time constituted risk factors for hemorrhage from the duodenojejunal anastomosis. There were no significant differences in pancreas graft and patient survival rates between the two groups. Anastomotic hemorrhage did not influence patient and graft survival.

Published 25 February 2005 in Transpl Int, 18(3): 296-302.
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