Pancreas transplantation at Mayo: II. Operative and perioperative management.

Better perioperative and operative management techniques have contributed to an improvement in the success rate of pancreas transplantation. Because of a shortage of donor organs, the criteria for acceptability of the allograft have been liberalized, and the development of techniques such as combined liver and pancreas procurement has increased allograft availability. Major advances have been made in organ preservation. Currently, pancreas allografts can routinely be stored for 18 to 24 hours. The technique of pancreaticoduodenal transplantation with a duodenocystostomy for the exocrine drainage is widely used. Experience with anesthetic and intensive-care unit management of these patients is accumulating. With the evolution of pancreas transplantation and with the help of the excellent transplant centers in our area, we developed a pancreas transplantation protocol and performed transplantation based on this protocol in 16 recipients at the Mayo Clinic from October 1987 through December 1988.